First FORO held in South Africa

The Rev. Dr. John T. Pless, assistant professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, serves as guest preacher for worship during a FORO (forum) held at Diepkloof Evangelical Lutheran Church in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Aug. 3. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

By Megan Mertz

On Sunday, Aug. 3, in southwest Johannesburg, South Africa, people gathered for worship at Diepkloof Evangelical Lutheran Church. The church, which was started in 2016 and later joined the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa, an LCMS partner church, meets in a primary school building as it looks for a more permanent space.

The area known as Diepkloof traces its roots to the 1950s, when it was created to provide housing for people displaced due to apartheid. Diepkloof is on the eastern side of the township of Soweto, location of the 1976 student demonstrations against apartheid known as the “Soweto uprising.”

On this day, the Diepkloof congregation was joined by a group of LCMS (Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod) missionaries and other international guests who were in town for the first FORO (forum) in South Africa. The FORO program brings together Lutheran partners from around the world who are involved in ministry in a certain place, in this case at Lutheran Theological Seminary in nearby Tshwane. The service was conducted mostly in English with singing in several other languages, and the Rev. Dr. John T. Pless, assistant professor of Pastoral Ministry and Missions at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, preached on the Feeding of the 4,000 in Mark 8.

Watch for more information about this FORO in an upcoming issue of Lutherans Engage the World.

Posted Oct. 27, 2025