With “The Lutheran Confessions” as its theme, the International Lutheran Council (ILC) will observe significant anniversaries of the Augsburg Confession and the Book of Concord during its biennial meeting from Aug. 27 to Sept. 2 in Berlin.
This year marks the 475th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession and 425th anniversary of the Book of Concord. Leading studies of the two documents will be Dr. Robert Kolb and Dr. Robert Rosin, both professors at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis.
Attending will be bishops and presidents, and their wives, from confessional Lutheran churches in about 30 countries on all six continents. The Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK) in Germany will host the conference. This is the 21st conference of confessional Lutheran churches since they first met together in 1952 and the sixth time since the formation of the Council in 1993.
In addition to the main topic, the participants will hear reports from member churches, hold regional meetings, and elect the ILC executive committee.
To assist the church bodies in celebrating these anniversaries and to prepare the conference participants, the Lutheran Church–Canada coordinated the preparation of a series of articles on the Lutheran Confessions. The articles were provided to the official publications of the ILC members and are being placed online in English and Spanish at the ILC Web site.
The ILC represents the more conservative church bodies of the Lutheran family and promotes the proclamation of the Gospel as confessed in the Lutheran Confessions.
The expressed purpose of the ILC is that member churches “share information, study theological questions and concerns together, discuss effective coordinated means of carrying out the mission and ministry of the Church, nurture and strengthen their relationships with each other, and work toward the closest possible joint expression of their faith and confession.”
President Gerald Kieschnick will represent the LCMS at the conference.
Others from from the LCMS who will attend include Dr. Samuel H. Nafzger, executive director of the Commission on Theology and Church Relations, who also serves as ILC executive secretary.
Serving as translators will be Dr. Douglas Rutt, Fort Wayne, translation supervisor; Dr. David Coles, Fort Wayne (English/Spanish); Dr. Hilbert Riemer, Minneapolis (Korean); Rev. Steve Oliver, Taiwan (Chinese); and Dr. John Mehl, Oberursel, Germany (Russian).
Posted July 29, 2005
