European Lutheran Churches Seek New Forums for Dialogue

Common Struggles and Opportunities Despite East-West Differences

Lutheran churches in a Europe divided for decades by the Iron Curtain have got to know each other since 1989 "in ways previously unforeseen."However, they need "new ways and spaces" to discuss the critical questions they face, concluded the participants of a Lutheran World Federation (LWF) consultation held in Budapest on 26-29June.

"While churches may not always be able to arrive at clear answers, the very process of struggling together with the questions can be a helpful contribution in society," the LWF member church representatives agreed in a final message from the meeting. The consultation on "Church and State in Societies in Transformation" examined the relationships between church and state that have emerged in Europe since the fall of communism.

Regional Commonalities

The participants noted that, "in spite of significant differences which still exist between East and West," Lutheran churches across the old divide share many things, "both positive and negative." All churches in Europe, they stated, "struggle to bear witness to the faith they confess in new political and economic contexts,and amid increasingly diverse populations."

Meanwhile, they noted that there are new patterns of state"neutrality" towards churches. Some states not only provide financial support, but also expect churches to do more in their societies.

Opportunities for Witness

Participants underlined that church numbers may have declined,but interest in spirituality and values in European societies has increased, bringing new areas for outreach. "God has upheld the churches in many of our countries through painful times of oppression, persecution and declining number sand influence," they said.

God continues to be active throughout Europe, in "communities of faith" that are "doing new things,through new people who are bringing new signs of life," and"through new opportunities for diaconal work and participation"in the wider society. "As Lutherans we especially discern God’s presence through theology of the cross," the message emphasizes. God is glimpsed through weakness and vulnerability. "Here we need to learn from and reach out to immigrants from other parts of Europe and beyond, to hear their voices, perspectives and the yearnings they bring."

Symbolic Meeting

The gathering at the Evangelical Lutheran Theological University in Budapest took place 25 years after the 1984 LWF Assembly in Budapest, which "served as a reminder of the political, economic and religious situation existing in Central and Eastern Europe at that time." The consultation also coincided with commemorations in Hungary marking the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Austrian-Hungarian border.

In June 1989, the foreign ministers of the two nations symbolically cut through the wire fence dividing their countries. A few months later, Hungary allowed East Germans seeking to reach the West to cross the border. This meant "people were free to escape from oppressive, totalitarian regimes," participants commented.

New Threats

"Prior to 1989 churches in Central and Eastern Europe had often provided the space in which discussion could take place in tyrannical regimes," they noted. Since then, spiritual value shave been under threat from different "tyrannies," e.g.consumerism and neoliberal globalization. The participants warned that the churches themselves have been in danger of diluting or abandoning the substance of the message they are called to proclaim and live out.

The consultation was the culmination of a study begun in 2006 by the Europe desk of the LWF's Department for Mission and Development (DMD). The Budapest meeting followed workshops in Moravske Toplice, Slovenia; Svaty Jr, Slovakia; St Petersburg,Russia; and Leeds, United Kingdom.

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