For several years now, the three European LWF regions have been meeting regularly on the level of church leaders and ecumenical officers. Yet the respective informal and formal communication networks of the three regions, including the KALME network (KALME stands for Communication Committee for Lutheran Minority Churches in the Central Eastern and Central Western LWF regions) never had a chance to meet around one table.

During several events and encounters in recent years, the need was felt to join forces for both exchange and the strengthening of communion building within the LWF throughout Europe. In the current information and post-truth society, with increasing secularization or non-belonging in a changing European landscape, the big challenge is: How can we be church? How can we be a Lutheran communion? How can the church contribute to fighting manipulation and lies? How can the church communicate the over 2000-year-old message of love and be a guide in the critical reading of news and the critical consumption of information?

Content

Our program will start on the 1st of October at 18:00 with a dinner, followed by a first keynote speech (19:30) and a welcome by the hosting church LELB, including a first reflection on the theme from a Latvian point of view.

On the next day, the 2nd of October, we will continue with a more general keynote speech and a discussion on the theme, followed by a keynote speech containing a deeper analysis of the current information society and post-truth-era. The third speaker will look back at the first days of Christianity and the patristic approach with the question: ‘Could we learn from our ancestors?’

The last day, the 3rd of October, will be devoted to the question: ‘How to strengthen the Lutheran communion in Europe?’

Practical questions

Taking their very different sizes into account, we kindly request churches to either send their heads of communication, their communicators or someone else who deals with communication or public affairs. It speaks for itself that church leaders are most welcome too.

The meeting will take place in the center of Riga (Latvia) in the meeting room of the consistory of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (LELB).

Reservations for hotel accommodation in walking distance from the consistory have already been made.

The conference costs, including meals, will be paid for by the LWF.

We kindly ask those churches that are able to do so, to fund travel and lodging for their participants. For those who need some assistance, please indicate this in an e-mail to the address below.

Please register as soon as possible, but latest by 14 September 2018, with the attached form, which we kindly ask you to send back to [email protected]