Loehe Theological Conference IV: Wilhelm Loehe on Christian Formation

For the past several days, the International Loehe Society (http://www.iloes.net/en/) Fourth Loehe Theological Conference has been holding forth in Neuendettelsau, Germany -- Loehe's base of operation in the 19th century. Scholars primarily from Germany and North America discussed the topic of Christian Formation.



Professor John Pless and Dr. Albert Collver from the LCMS were presenters at the conference. Deaconess Grace Rao and Rev. Tony Booker, Regional Director for Eurasia, also attended on behalf of the LCMS.



Dr. Collver's presentation was titled, "Loehe: Mission Societies, The Church in Its Motion and Missio Dei." Collver noted that for Loehe the church engages in mission by being Church. The gospel goes out into the world to all nations, one congregation at a time. Collver used Loehe to critique some contemporary Missiology trends.


Professor Pless presented on "Seed Grains: Loehe's Manual for Christian Formation Through Prayer." Loehe teaches Christians how to pray, not by talking about prayer but by providing prayers for Christians to imitate. He provides prayers for the church year and for various events and concerns. The Psalter has a primary function in Seed Grains with each day of the week. Through Seed Grains, Loehe hoped to shape the life of the Christian.


Nikolai Kirche, Loehe's congregation. At the time of Loehe, there were only about 500 people in Neuendettelsau.



Stained glass window in the Nikolai Kirche.



The tomb of Wilhelm Löhe.



Wilhelm Loehe was instrumental in the establishment of St Lorenz (pictured above) in Frankenmuth, Michigan.

Location:Missionsstraße,Neuendettelsau,Germany

EECMY 10th Council Meeting

The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) is holding its Council meeting. The EECMY holds a general assembly every four years. This is similar to a convention for the LCMS. The EECMY also holds a council meeting between the general assemblies. The council meeting consists of all the synod presidents (District Presidents in LCMS terminology) and other representatives. Reports are made by each Synod (District in LCMS lingo) to the council. Currently, the various synods are reporting on how they are implementing the strategic plan. The EECMY has a church wide strategic plan. Each Synod (District) operates according to the same plan with the same goals. One Synod reported to the Council that they had gained 87,000 new members since this time last year. The Council is able to make decisions on behalf of the entire church between general assemblies. The third level of governance in the EECMY is the executive committee. President Harrison met with the executive committee in January 2014.



Dr. Collver had opportunity to bring greetings to the Council on behalf of President Harrison and the LCMS. The EECMY expressed appreciation for President Harrison's visit in January, as well as for the LCMS' efforts to increase the EECMY's Lutheran identity and the work on theological education.



The EECMY has recently begun to send missionaries around the world. They do work in West Africa and Pakistan. One of the missionaries told the Council that it was not enough to leave your home but one had to be willing to lose his life for the Gospel. Over 15,000 people attended, the sending service for one of the missionary.



The EECMY had an art display at the council. Recently, some in the EECMY began to use art as a method for outreach. The triptych above shows a person fixing his eyes on the crucified Christ and turning from the riches, beauty, and power of the world.



The EECMY holds as its confessional basis that the Old and New Testaments are the Holy Word of God and the only source and only source and infallible norm of all Church doctrine and practice. The church holds to the Creeds, the Augsburg Confession and Luther's Catechisms. One of the challenges is that very few copies of either the Augsburg Confession or Luther's Catechisms can be found in Ethiopia. The lack of these confessional documents presents challenges in teaching and maintaining Lutheran identity.



Sunday worship at the mother congregation in Addis.


In the evenings, we have opportunity to enjoy meals such as kitfo with leaders from the EECMY. This provides great opportunity for further discussion.



President Hailu from Hawasa. President Hailu is finishing his course work for a DMin from Concordia Seminary in St Louis.



Emily German and Sandra Rhein who are assessing the feasibility of an Amharic hymnal project.

Posted on 21 July 2014 by Rev. Dr. Albert Collver

Location:Addis Ababa,Ethiopia

Ethiopia: MYS

(Left to Right: Dr Albert Collver, Deaconess Sandra Rhein, Emily German, Rev. Shauen Trump, Dr. Belay -- meet at Mekane Yesus Seminary)

A group from the LCMS met with leaders at the Mekane Yesus Seminary (MYS) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to discuss how the EECMY and the LCMS can work together on theological education to train future pastors. The EECMY curre you has about 3,000 pastors, and has a goal of having one pastor per congregation or 10,000 pastors over the next five years. The LCMS has committed to providing assistance in curriculum development and to provide theological educators to teach courses. For the part year the LCMS have had theological educators at MYS to assist in their programs.




These books from CPH are some of the materials used by students in the graduate study lounge at MYS. Obtaining theological study materials is one of the greatest challenges in providing theological education in not only Ethiopia but through out Africa and Latin America. The challenge lay not only in the cost of the materials but also in shipping, transport, and storage. Although the rise of electronic books and Internet resources is common place in North America and Europe, electronic resources are generally impractical or entirely unusable in Africa and other parts of the world. (The hotel where we are staying only had Internet access for a few hours yesterday.) It is not uncommon for electricity to be shut off for parts of the day. Printed books are a necessity despite the rise of electronic resources. The question in many cases is which resources to provide and how to get the materials where they are needed -- a challenge that the Chemnitz Library Initiative is trying to address.



A letter of greeting from Concordia Seminary, St Louis is presented to Dr. Belay at MYS. With now 7 regional seminaries and 40 Bible colleges in the EECMY, there is tremendous opportunity for theological education. The EECMY requested that representatives from both Concordia Seminary St Louis and Concordia Theological Seminary come to Ethiopia to discuss face to face how further collaboration could be made.



Construction on the dinning hall at Mekane Yesus Seminary continues and nears completion. Approximately, one year ago the LCMS became involved to assist in its completion.



In Ethiopia, every meeting takes place over coffee, where it was first created.



Deaconess Sandra Rhein, Beza Tefera, and Church Musician Emily German tour the MYS campus. Deaconess Sandra and Emily are visiting to explore the possibility of assisting in the development of worship materials particularly for the youth and for mission outreach. Part of the project will include the gathering of indigenous Ethiopian hymns and songs, as well as working with traditional Lutheran hymns that have been translated. Dr. Berhanu, EECMY General Secretary, stated that this project is one of the most needful items now for the EECMY.

Today we meet with other leaders of the EECMY. The next several days will be packed with activities.

-- Posted on 19 July 2014 by Dr. Albert Collver

Location:Addis Ababa,Ethiopia

Meeting Between NRK and LCMS at International Center in St. Louis

Participants: Dr. Joel Lehenbauer (CTCR – LCMS); Dr. Albert Collver (LCMS); Shinri Emoto (General Secretary NRK); Rev. Saito (Mission Secretary NRK); Rev. Ando (Director of Disaster Relief NRK); Mr. Ando (Urawa Lutheran School NRK)

16 July 2014

Representatives from the Missouri Synod and the Japan Lutheran Church (NRK) met to discuss rekindling the the 50 plus year partnership between the two church bodies. Dr. Collver noted that the LCMS Office of International Mission (OIM) strategic plan calls for renewing and strengthening partnerships and that the discussion with the NRK could not have occurred at a more opportune time.

This past spring the NRK elected a new president, Rev. Shimizu Shin after President Kumei retired. Dr. Joel Lehenbauer attended this convention as the LCMS representative.

The Urawa high school founded by the LCMS in 1953 occupied a significant portion of the conversation. Currently, the high school has approximately 700

students. The school has out grown its facility and plans to build a new building to house more than 1000 students. The student body, only 10% of whom are Christian, is to reach the other 90% through Bible classes and daily chapel services.

In addition to the high school the NRK asked if the LCMS could send missionaries for the following work:

- A pastor for the Okinawa Lutheran Church

- A Seminary Professor in Tokyo

- Chaplain for Urawa Lutheran School

LCMS OIM agrees to begin recruiting for these positions. 

Posted by Rev. Dr. Albert Collver