International Church Relations Conference: Planting a flower in the gate of hell

The Rev. Dr. Janis Vanags, archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, speaks on Oct. 25 during the 2024 International Church Relations Conference. The Rev. Dr. Jonathan E. Shaw, director of LCMS Church Relations, is seen behind Vanags. (LCMS/Erik M. Lunsford)

By Roy S. Askins

Ninety-seven representatives from 46 countries and 41 LCMS sister church bodies, along with six other church bodies with whom The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) is working toward fellowship, gathered Oct. 21–25 in Wittenberg, Germany, for the International Church Relations Conference 2024 (ICRC24) to study God’s Word, encourage and support one another, and promote global confessional Lutheranism.

The church bodies in attendance represented 95% of the LCMS’ global sister church bodies. Sister church bodies are those churches with whom the LCMS shares altar and pulpit fellowship — that is, they agree in the doctrine of the Gospel in all its articles; in the right use of the Holy Sacraments; and confess the inspired, inerrant Holy Scriptures as the only rule and norm of faith and practice and the Book of Concord as a faithful exposition of the Word of God (quia subscription).

The group met under the theme “Christ the Lord of History, Yesterday, Today and Forever,” based on Hebrews 13:8: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” The Rev. Dr. Jonathan E. Shaw, director of LCMS Church Relations, explained: “This theme was selected because it shows the power and the victory of Jesus Christ from the very beginning, even from before time.”

The conference revolved around the study of God’s Word and discussion of that Word in relation to caring for Lutheran congregations around the globe. The Rev. Dr. Janis Vanags, archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (LELB), preached on the importance of meditating on God’s Word: “Luther said that we need to rub God’s Word in our fingers like aromatic herbs and inhale its fragrance. We need to ruminate on it like a cow, not [letting it pass in] through one ear in and through one ear out.”

The nine conference presenters helped the attendees ruminate on God’s Word by breaking the theme into three temporal perspectives: yesterday, today and forever. Yesterday addressed matters related to creation, Old Testament narrative and re-ordering the image of God. The middle section, “Christ the Lord of History Today,” addressed a threefold emphasis of witness, mercy and church planting. Finally, the last section looked to the future and end times by discussing the church’s worship, the church’s confession standing before the throne of God, and Christ’s gracious promise and presence in sacramental remembrance.

Attendees gathered daily for Matins and Vespers, with Divine Service celebrated on Wednesday, Oct. 23. The service demonstrated the diversity of the attendees. The opening versicles were sung in Swahili, the Responsory in German and the Kyrie in Spanish. “These different languages help us all, in a concrete way, honor where God has called us and who we are in that context,” Shaw said, emphasizing that though the language of worship might be diverse, the churches gathered for the conference are united in their singular confession. Most services were held in St. Mary’s, the parish church in Wittenberg, where Martin Luther preached.

That they may be one

The Rev. Dr. Jon Bruss, president of Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, explained the importance of this gathering: “One of the duties of the Synod … is to find those throughout the world with whom you do share a confession. Why? Because the Lord Jesus prays, ut unum sint, ‘that they may be one.’ This [conference] is one way of expressing that unity we have through faith in Christ and our Baptism around the shared Means of Grace.”

This includes supporting and encouraging one another. The Rev. Helmut Paul, bishop of the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa (FELSISA), said: “The great opportunity here is the brotherly support. We see that, as we serve in various countries, there’s a lot of overlap in terms of the challenges and problems.”

LCMS President Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison pointed to both political and religious issues facing global Lutheranism. He noted that churches in Ukraine, Russia, Sudan, South Sudan, South America and many other places face political conflict. In India, the difficulty is increasing: “The Hindu government is increasingly making life difficult for our partner church in India … impinging on the rights of minorities.”

But that’s not all: “The Europeans face gross secularism. … Recent polls showing virtually all of Germany [is unchurched]. About 10% of the population are Christians or claim to be Christians,” Harrison said.

On Sept. 30, 2025, Vanags will complete his term as archbishop and retire from service to the LELB. In his sermon — his last to the ICRC in his role as archbishop — he expressed the sentiment of the gathering: “The 21st century reminds me of a scene from that movie, ‘Gladiator.’ Maximus stands in the middle of the arena for the battle and says to his comrades, ‘Whatever comes out of these gates, we have a better chance of survival if we work together.’ Dear sisters and brothers, that is … why we are here. However, to work together, we need someone to lead and hold us together. It can only be Christ, the resurrected and living One.”

Harrison praised Vanags’ service during the collapse of communism and his unwavering commitment to the Word of God and the Lutheran Confessions: “It was our great privilege to partner with him and the Latvian church in numerous ways.” Turning to Vanags, he said, “The whole catholic and apostolic church thanks you for your wonderful confession.”

Planting a flower

In the face of these difficulties, it might be tempting to give up and turn inward, hoping to preserve what little it appears the church has. However, church leaders at the ICRC24 conference remained hopeful. The Rev. Juan Pablo Lanterna, president of the Confessional Lutheran Church of Chile, encouraged attendees to “plant a flower in the gate of hell.”

When asked what this meant, Lanterna explained: “The Gospel [seems] very small sometimes, but God has promised to the church that [He] will save the people. … So, we believe the Word of God; and we have to preach, preach, preach; and this flower will grow.”

The ICRC conferences are one such planting of a flower in the gate of hell. The effect on global Lutheranism often takes years to manifest itself as relationships grow and blossom. Churches and church leaders gather, share concerns, learn from one another and encourage each other to remain dedicated to God’s Word and the Lutheran Confessions.

Over time, the effects of these relationships compound. The Rev. Dr. Thomas Egger, president of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, noted how the LCMS seminaries have broadly influenced global Lutheranism: “While I was down in [Brazil], many people and leaders in the church were thanking me profusely for the generations of impact that our seminary has had on their church. … That story can be multiplied many times around the world for both seminaries.”

“The LCMS is the strongest force for confessional Lutheranism in the world today,” Harrison said. “We bring a theology that holds the Scriptures as God’s own inerrant Word. And we bring a theology of the Book of Concord. Full stop. And because it agrees with the Word of God, and we care for and love people, we plant churches, we bear witness to Christ, and that is exactly what we should all be about.”

See more photos from the conference.

Posted Nov. 1, 2024