LWF has begun preparations for its Fourteenth Assembly, set for June 2030 in Augsburg, Germany. Photo: DNK/LWB, N. H. Klotz
Historic Reformation city will be venue of LWF's Assembly, marking 500th anniversary of Augsburg Confession
(LWI) - The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has begun preparations for its Fourteenth Assembly, set for June 2030 in Augsburg, Germany.
This week, LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Anne Burghardt has led a Communion Office delegation in meetings with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (ELCB) and the LWF German National Committee (GNC/LWF) in Augsburg. The ELCB will host the Fourteenth Assembly of the LWF in the historic Reformation city, with the support of the LWF/GNC. The assembly will coincide with the 500th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, presented in the city in June 1530. This confessional writing was originally offered by the Lutheran reformers as an articulation of their faith. It is one of the key Lutheran confessional writings, uniting churches across the world.
Participants in the meetings included Bishop Christian Kopp of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria; Bishop Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt, LWF Vice-President for Central Western Europe and Chairperson of the GNC/LWF; Eva Weber, Mayor of Augsburg; and Bishop Jerzy Samiec of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland (ECACP), host of the LWF Thirteenth Assembly in Kraków in 2023.
At a festive event on 2 December, ECACP Bishop Samiec ceremonially handed over the “assembly baton” to Bavarian Bishop Kopp.
The Augsburg Confession shows us that the church is alive where it is in motion: listening, learning, connecting.
Bishop Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt, LWF Vice-President for Central Western Europe
The GNC/LWF chairperson Bishop Kühnbaum-Schmidt reflected on the importance of the Augsburg Confession, which “remains the foundation of our Lutheran identity to this day—and is at the same time an invitation to responsible and open ecumenical cooperation. It shows us that the church is alive where it is in motion: listening, learning, connecting. It is therefore of great significance,” she added, “that we will meet in Augsburg in 2030, where the confession was first presented. The Assembly in Augsburg will be a space in which we look ahead together: how we as a global church take responsibility, how we live out reconciliation, and how trusting in Christ, we open paths that give courage."
Beginning our preparations in Augsburg carries deep significance. In this city the reformers articulated and presented their understanding of our shared faith.
Rev. Dr Anne Burghardt, LWF General Secretary
"Beginning our preparations in Augsburg carries deep significance," said General Secretary Burghardt. “In this city the reformers articulated and presented their understanding of our shared faith. It was here that the LWF and the Roman Catholic Church signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) in 1999. We are now grateful to embark on this major undertaking with our Bavarian hosts and the German National Committee of the LWF, as we prepare to mark the anniversary of the confession and welcome the global Lutheran communion to this historic city.”
Augsburg Mayor Eva Weber. Photo: DNK/LWB, N. H. Klotz
Passing of the baton, from left to right, Bishop Jerzy Samiec of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland, Anna Wrzesinska, Chairperson of the Local Assembly Planning Committee for the Thirteenth Assembly in Krakow, and Bishop Christian Kopp of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. Photo: DNK/LWB, N. H. Klotz
Bishop Christian Kopp of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. Photo: DNK/LWB, N. H. Klotz
LWF General Secretary Burghardt was accompanied by the Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations, Prof. Dr Dirk Lange; Regional Secretary for Europe, Rev. Dr Ireneusz Lukas; and Chief of Staff to the General Secretary Rev. Árni Svanur Daníelsson. They also participated in the Assembly of the GNC/LWF which took place this week in Augsburg.
The agenda included meetings with local leaders of the city and church and visits to sites central to Reformation and ecumenical history. Augsburg is widely known as a "city of peace.” That legacy was reinforced in 1999 when the LWF and Roman Catholic Church signed the landmark JDDJ there.
Rev. Dr Anne Burghardt, LWF General Secretary. Photo: DNK/LWB, N. H. Klotz
St Anne’s church in Augsburg. Photo: DNK/LWB, N. H. Klotz
Bishop Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt, LWF Vice-President for Central Western Europe. Photo: DNK/LWB, N. H. Klotz
The LWF Assembly, held every six to seven years, is the highest decision-making body of the global Lutheran communion, representing over 78 million Lutherans worldwide across 154 member churches in 99 countries. The meetings this week mark the first step in the journey toward 2030, as the global communion prepares to mark a foundational moment for the identity, mission, and witness of Lutheran churches worldwide.
