The Lutheran and Pentecostals dialogue meeting included theological discussions, shared worship with local congregations, conversations with pastors and students and a major public lecture at Jakarta Theological Seminary. Photo: STFT/Dion Sembiring
A dialogue meeting between Lutherans and Pentecostals in Indonesia explores worship and role of Holy Spirit
(LWI) - Theological discussions, shared worship with local congregations, conversations with pastors and students and a major public lecture at Jakarta Theological Seminary were at the heart of a dialogue meeting in Indonesia this week between members of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Pentecostal World Fellowship.
The 10 -16 April meeting, hosted by the seminary and its President Prof. Binsar Jonathan Pakpahan, was the latest round of a second phase of dialogue which began in Brazil last year. Experiencing worship with local congregations and getting to know the challenges facing Lutherans and Pentecostals in different parts of the world is an important focus of this ecumenical dialogue.
“On the first day, we were given an extraordinary welcome by the Protestant Christian Batak Church (HKBP) in Meteng neighborhood and by members of the El Roi Pentecostal Church,” said Prof. Dr Dirk Lange, LWF Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations. “In both places, we experienced vibrant prayer and singing, which gave us much to reflect upon since this phase of our dialogue is exploring the themes of worship and Christian formation within our two traditions,” he added.
From Augsburg to Azusa
At a joint public lecture that Lange gave with Pentecostal Prof. Lisa Stephenson, he traced LWF's ecumenical commitment and reflected on the journey from Augsburg, where the reformers confessed their faith in the Augsburg Confession of 1530, to Azusa Street in Los Angeles, where the modern Pentecostal movement took root in the early 20th century. Luther’s reform movement, Lange noted, was itself “a revival that quickly spread.”
“The Holy Spirit expresses itself in many different ways, never confined to our often-rigid definitions or categories,” he continued. “Luther’s reform of the church of his day was one grounded in making room for the Holy Spirit to act,” he added, “for what else is the gift of justification by faith alone?” Stressing that the Augsburg Confession, a foundational Lutheran text, was intended as “an ecumenical proposal to the church,” Lange looked back at the history of relations between Lutherans and Pentecostals over the past 50 years.
The current focus on worship within the two traditions is an essential topic, he noted, “because unfortunately, it is too often in our very different worship practices that misunderstanding and suspicions arise.” Ecumenism, he concluded, “is not so much a compilation of lofty concepts but actual transformative practices as the Holy Spirit pushes or pulls us forward on the journey from conflict to communion, on the journey of reconciliation, participating in God’s act of reclaiming the world."
