German Protestant Kirchentag Focuses on a Just Economy

LWF Representatives Speak on Youth Participation and Sharing of Resources

Questions of justice and a responsible economy were a central focus of the 34th German Protestant Kirchentag, which took place from 1 to 5 May 2013 in Hamburg.

The Kirchentag is a German Protestant lay movement and the theme for this gathering was “As much as you need” (Exodus 16:18). Almost 120,000 full-time participants attended worship services; exchanged ideas about faith; and engaged in discussion about current political affairs with representatives from the church, civil society and political sphere. The guest speakers included German Federal President Joachim Gauck, who is a former Lutheran pastor, and Chancellor Angela Merkel.

On the evening of 1 May, more than 350,000 people attended the Evening of Encounters hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany, a member church of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The whole inner-city area was filled with stalls presenting the various regions of the North German church, which was only established at Pentecost 2012 as a merger of three churches. Between 2 and 4 May, around 2,500 thematic events took place, also involving many ecumenical guests from around the world, including representatives from the LWF Communion Office.

Speaking at the panel on “The good life—as much as you need. Between growth, progress and justice,” Caroline Richter, LWF Youth secretary, called for more youth participation in dealing with the pressing questions on the future of the world. She reported on the particular tasks and responsibilities borne by young adults in the LWF in relation to questions of sustainability. For example, the LWF delegation to the 2012 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Doha consisted exclusively of young adults under the age of 30.

As a further example of successful youth participation, Richter referred to the wide-ranging decisions made by the LWF German National Committee (GNC), which go back to an initiative of the Youth Committee of the GNC/LWF. As a result of these decisions, the work of the GNC/LWF is to become more environmentally friendly.

In a Bible study on the feeding of the 5,000 (John 6: 1-15) Rev. Dr Patricia Cuyatti, LWF area secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, warned against an over-emphasis on economic thinking. The Bible passage showed that economic considerations are not able to satisfy the hunger of the people, but the source of life is already among them through Jesus.

What is already available can satisfy the hunger of people in just the same way as the five loaves and the two fishes fed the 5,000. She challenged the churches to make use of their own available resources in the same way and not to allow economic paradigms to hold too much power in the churches.

On 5 May, the huge festival of faith came to an end in the Hamburg City Park with a communion service, in which 130,000 people participated. The next Kirchentag will take place in Stuttgart from 3 to 7 June 2015.