Spotlight

Worship, Study and Brotherly Support in Wittenberg

International church leaders reflect on the importance of attending gatherings organized by LCMS Church Relations.

Story by Roy S. Askins | Photography by Erik M. Lunsford | Winter 2025

In October, The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) gathered leaders from more than 45 Lutheran church bodies to attend theological discussions under the theme, “Christ the Lord of History: Yesterday, Today and Forever.” In Wittenberg, the cradle of the Reformation, these church leaders heard nine presentations, discussed them extensively among themselves and gathered for worship at least twice daily, often in historic St. Mary’s, where Martin Luther preached most frequently. Here is a small selection of comments from these church leaders about why they find these gatherings helpful.

Rev. Dr. Yohana Ernest Nzelu
Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania—South East of Lake Victoria Diocese

We started our diocese with only 17 pastors and we had 14,000 members, but today we have 100 pastors and we have 42,000 members. That’s only for 12 years. And what helped us is these kinds of conferences. When we participate [in] these teachings, when we go back home, we teach others, we get new things, and then we bring new things to our members. So, people are strengthened in their faith. …

The Rev. Dr. Yohana Ernest Nzelu (second from right) listens during the 2023 conference in Wittenberg, Germany.

Since I’ve been getting this opportunity to learn from my brothers and sisters from [the] LCMS, I’m bringing Lutheranism to my people back home. I’m transferring the … Lutheran heritage I get from brothers and sisters from the LCMS to my people back in Tanzania. When you visit my church today, you’ll see how far we have moved from just normal Christians to Lutheran Christians.

Rev. John Shadrak Donkoh
President, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana

When I get back home, I will share this joy with our people: that God gave Luther to Christendom [to bring] the Gospel alive to us. … The Gospel was shrouded in mystery until Luther, through the Word, came to know that Jesus came to redeem us. And he has given us that good news that we did not … buy salvation or buy forgiveness, but that it was given to us freely because of the merit of Jesus Christ. This is good news for every person in this world to know that you need not to pay for your salvation. …

The Rev. John Shadrak Donkoh comments during the 2022 conference in Kisumu, Kenya.

Now, reading back into history, we see that The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod has remained faithful to the Scriptures. And this has encouraged many of us who also belong to these confessional churches to continue to proclaim the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so, for me, it is a joy to have a partnership with The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod because of the faithfulness to Scripture.

Rev. Dr. Jun-Hyun Kim
Interim president, Luther Theological University, Lutheran Church in Korea
[While here,] I learned more confessional Lutheranism, and then I will bring that theology into my country and … to my students to teach what is the confessional Lutheranism.
[The Word of God and the Book of Concord] are our standard, very fundamental things. So without them, we cannot stand. Justification is also a [fundamental] thing. … I would like to bring [these] fundamental things [to my country]. The Word of God is the most important thing. I learn those things here. …

The Rev. Dr. Matthew C. Harrison, president of the LCMS, talks with the Rev. Dr. Jun-Hyun Kim (left) and President Run Seob Kim of the Lutheran Church in Korea during the 2023 conference in Wittenberg.

[The Word of God] is the foundation [that] our seminary and [the LCMS] stands [on]. As a professor and also as president of Luther University, I love [to] bring this to my country. We have to fight with the Word of God, not with our reasoning or with “popular” things. We have to [be formed] with the Word of God; without that, the church is going to fall.

Rev. Helmut Paul
Bishop, Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa

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. Church leaders come together, talking about various topics and then seeing how we’ve got many problems and at the same time, [they are] so similar. [We] learn from their wisdom and their experience and share with one another [in] worship and prayer together.

The Rev. Helmut Paul listens to a speaker during the 2024 conference in Wittenberg.

Rev. Juan Pablo Lanterna
President, Confessional Lutheran Church of Chile

You can understand that you are not alone in the problems that you have. Other churches have [problems] too, and you will find people who preach to help you in the dark of this world. We start to work together, to put other churches together. And we want to put a flower in the gate of the hell, so we are working on that.

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 Rev. Juan Pablo Lanterna prays with a resident impacted by wildfires in Valparaíso, Chile, in May 2024.

Learn More

Read a Reporter article about the conference

Rev. Roy S. Askins

Managing director of Editorial and Theological Content for LCMS Communications and executive editor of The Lutheran Witness.