LWF mourns the passing of Bishop Emeritus Niels Henrik Arendt

Deep commitment to and passion for serving the church

Geneva, 26 August 2015 (LWI) - Leaders of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) have expessed shock at the sudden death of Bishop Emeritus Niels Henrik Arendt of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark, who died on 24 August, aged 64, following a short illness.

Arendt, who was the chair of the LWF Committee for Mission and Development, and a member of the Council and the Meeting of Officers, served as bishop of the Haderslev Diocese of the ELCD from 1999 to 2013.

Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan, president of the LWF, said he had come to know Arendt as a good theologian whose love for the Lutheran church in Denmark led him to become a strong supporter of and actor in the LWF.

Arendt’s passion for mission and understanding of accompaniment made him a good choice as chair of the Committee for Mission and Development, the LWF president added. “Bishop Niels will be missed both in the Meeting of Officers and the Council as well as in LWF circles.”

Rev. Dr Martin Junge, general secretary of the LWF, who was participating in a Global Young Reformers workshop in Wittenberg, Germany, when he heard of Bishop Arendt’s sudden passing, said the gathering was deeply affected by the news along with all colleagues at the LWF Communion Office in Geneva.

“There are people who, no matter for how long or short we have known them, leave indelible memories with us, and Niels Henrik is one of them,” Junge said. “His serenity, wisdom, warm smile, deep commitment and passion to serve the church made a great difference in the ministries to which he was called, among them as LWF Council member.”

Bishop Arendt was a well-spoken and reflective theologian and he had a love for the Danish collection of hymns. One hymn in particular had taken on much meaning for him. “See, the sun is rising” from 1891, expresses a life journey that is in God’s hand despite danger and death.

Reflecting on faith, doubt and life, Arendt said in an interview while still Bishop, “the hymn became permission to embrace life for better or worse with God’s blessing. It taught me that faith does not have to be compromised when met with challenges, doubt and anxiety. But it can be strengthened. A child’s simple reception of the Kingdom of God is best for the child. But if you insist on staying in the chamber of simplicity as a grown-up, your life becomes untruthful. The beauty is that a grown-up can recover the simple piety of a child just by exposing his or her faith to life’s joys and sorrows. When you have experienced life on the edge and is only upheld because God wants to uphold you, an almost childish gratitude and confidence may spring into existence.” 

Born in Copenhagen in 1950, Arendt served as a pastor from 1975 to 1992, when he became dean of Haderslev. Between 1985 and 1987 he was sent by Mission Afrika as a theological advisor to the Lutheran churches in Sierra Leone.

The time Arendt and his family - wife Birgitte, a theologian, and three small children at the time - spent in Sierra Leone offering theological training to pastors and studying Christian-Muslim relations shaped their outlook on life and the world.

After serving as bishop in the Haderslev Diocese, Arendt returned to pastoral ministry in Madum and Staby and worked as the Danish church’s theological advisor around the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.

Arendt volunteered for numerous organizations, including DanChurchAid, the Rehabilitation Centre for Victims of Torture, the Ethical Council and the Forum for Islam and Christianity. He was chair of the Grundtvig Forum, which debates the thinking of renowned Danish theologian N. F. S. Grundtvig.

Bishop Arendt grew up in a home where both parents were theologians. He had five brothers, and leaves his wife of 43 years, Birgitte, and four children.

The LWF has translated three of Bishop Arendt’s latest sermons. Read them here.