Welcoming thousands to the Kirchentag: (From left to right) Kirchentag Secretary General Kristin Jahn, Kirchentag President Anja Siegesmund, Bishop Ralf Meister, Mayor of Hanover Belit Onay. Photo: Jens Schulze
Germany’s largest Protestant festival to explore faith, justice, and resilience in a changing world
(LWI) - The city of Hanover will come alive this week, with music, prayer, and dialogue, when it hosts the 39th German Protestant Kirchentag. Across the city’s churches, streets, and public squares, the Kirchentag will offer visitors over 1500 events about topical issues, including peacebuilding, climate justice, and democracy. The theme of the Kirchentag is “Courageous – Strong – Resolute” (1 Cor 16:13-14).
Organizers expect over 100,000 participants from more than 80 nations around the globe, bringing together people from diverse backgrounds, including many under the age of 30. Among them are about 5,000 international and interreligious guests, contributors.
Countless people are opening their homes from 30 April to 4 May, and schools are providing classrooms to accommodate guests from near and far.
Around 1,500 events on questions of faith and societal issues such as peace, polarization, climate justice and care for creation, and polarization are planned. Representatives from various walks of church and society will contribute to them. The gathering will open with two large open-air church services and the traditional “Evening of Encounter,” a colorful street festival.
Brass players at the closing service of the Kirchentag in Dortmund 2019. Photo: Kirchentag/Dirk Purz
Audience at the Church Congress in Nuremberg in 2023. Photo: Kirchentag/Bongard
More than 3,000 brass players and 1,200 singers have already signed up to provide musical accompaniment for the services.
In addition, several events and panel discussions will be live-streamed online. This is the heritage of the Kirchentag that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
Lutheran presence
Members from the global Lutheran communion form a large group among participants and contributors. LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Anne Burghardt will attend the Kirchentag.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover, one of the eleven member churches of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Germany, welcomes the Kirchentag to Hanover: “The words 'be courageous and strong’ strike a nerve of our times,” said bishop Ralf Meister. “We are called to show ourselves courageous and strong for our democracy, our freedom, our community. We must show that we take responsibility for the way we want to live together in the future; protecting the vulnerable, achieving justice between the rich and poor.”
We are called to show ourselves courageous and strong for our democracy, our freedom, our community.
Bishop Ralf Meister, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover
Together with two youth, Meister will preach at the opening service of the Kirchentag.
The LWF features in the program of the Kirchentag. A workshop will be held on 1 May, titled “Around the world in 90 minutes with the Global Songbook – Discovering liturgies and songs from The Lutheran World Federation.” LWF’s Liturgical Studies Coordinator, Rev. Allison Werner Hoenen, and Uwe Steinmetz, who compiled the Songbook, will lead the workshop. That evening, Steinmetz will present a concert, “A Singing Communion.”
On 3 May, LWF’s Head of Global Advocacy, Isaiah Toroitich, will moderate a panel titled “When Home Becomes Uninhabitable – A Conversation with Climate Witnesses”. LWF Vice-President for Central Western Europe, Bishop Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt, will be one of the panelists.
In a discussion with political and religious stakeholders in Europe, climate witnesses will report on their experiences and present their demands to politicians and society. They will discuss approaches to achieving more climate justice, focusing on those who suffer acutely from the effects of climate change, those who have been displaced, and those who will be displaced in the future.
Throughout the Kirchentag, the German National Committee of the LWF (GNC/LWF) welcomes guests at a stand on the trade fair, serving as a point of contact for partners and friends, and providing information about how the LWF is sharing hope, empowering churches, and impacting the world.
