Participants at the 2025 GEM School training in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: LWF/S. Sullivan
Young Lutheran participants share hopes at the annual ecumenical training for an Economy of Life for all
(LWI) - What is the fourth industrial revolution? How does theology inform economics? How can Christians make a greater impact in advocating for environmental justice and fairer financial systems? These questions are up for discussion at a two-week intensive training on economic and environmental advocacy which is currently taking place in Seoul, the capital of South Korea.
The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) partners with the World Council of Churches, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the World Methodist Council and the Council for World Mission to organize the Ecumenical School on Governance, Economics and Management for an Economy of Life, or GEM School as it is popularly known. The 18 to 29 August program aims to equip 20 lay and ordained church leaders with knowledge, tools and skills to become effective agents for change at both local and global level.
GEM School participants come from different countries and different Christian churches. Photo: LWF/S. Sullivan
The GEM School aims to equip participants with knowledge and skills to become effective advocates for change. Photo: LWF/S. Sullivan
Participants introduce themselves and share challenges from their contexts. Photo: LWF/S. Sullivan
“As Lutheran youth in Brazil, we have been engaging in campaigns to tackle issues such as climate justice, intergenerational justice or the inclusion of people living with disability,” says 25-year-old Natan de Oliveira Schuman, one of the participants at this year’s training. “But in our context, the polarized political situation has made it difficult to publicly advocate for labor and economic rights, or even for human rights more generally. Those who dare to continue this work face serious threats including online crimes such as defamation, slander, exposure and virtual ‘lynching’.”
Schuman is currently concluding his term as National Youth Coordinator for the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil. He says he hopes the GEM School will provide him with practical advocacy tools, “but also with courage to face these challenges, to raise my voice more boldly and to allow [us] to experience the discomfort brought by the Holy Spirit in the face of injustice.” He says patience and persistence are vital, citing his church’s Socio-Environmental Justice Policy - which he is helping to draft - as an example of successful advocacy in a context where “climate denial is prevalent, and Brazil’s economic structures are deeply embedded in export-oriented monoculture farming.”
Too often, churches remain silent in these areas, even though our faith calls us to work for liberation and justice
Anneke Gerken, GEM participant from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Oldenburg in northern Germany
“Too often, churches remain silent in these areas, even though our faith calls us to work for liberation and justice,” reflects Anneke Gerken, from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Oldenburg in northern Germany. As well as her involvement with youth and children’s ministry in her local congregation, she takes part in ecumenical dialogues and prayer meetings to connect with young people from other Christian traditions.
Speaking with competence and courage
“I am active in my student council at university, and it is very important to me to connect the academic context with the reality of people on the ground in the church,” she says. “That same connection is needed between theology and economics,” Gerken continues. “Our church has the structures, the buildings and above all the Gospel that enables us to raise a strong voice. The GEM School matters to me, because it equips us to speak with competence and courage, to find a clear voice in political and economic questions and to work towards an economy of life for all.”
“At the 2023 LWF Assembly in Kraków, the youth identified the need to address global poverty - especially through ethical entrepreneurship and sustainability – as one of their top priorities,” notes Savanna Sullivan, LWF Program Executive for Youth and one of the organizers of this year’s GEM School. “Here is Seoul, participants study and discuss theological concepts alongside economic history and liberative future models to make this priority a reality.”
Sullivan says: “Significantly, the GEM School is both ecumenical and intergenerational. It’s a unique opportunity for Christians of different ages and different denominations to discuss challenges and imagine creations solutions to one of the world’s most pressing issues. No one church can tackle this alone. But our faith compels us to work towards a true economy of life, which prioritizes the well-being of all people and of creation over profits for just a few. This is a crucial matter of both theological conviction and of intergenerational justice.”
The annual GEM School program forms part of an ecumenical initiative known as the New International Financial and Economic Architecture (NIFEA), which aims to build awareness and equip people with a passion for working towards more just, caring and sustainable societies.
