Lutheran – Mennonite dialogue

Relations between the LWF and the Mennonite World Conference

Official reconciliation between Lutherans and Mennonites began during the 450th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession in 1980. It led to a process of working through the painful legacy of persecution of Anabaptists, whom Mennonites regard as their predecessors, in the 16th century.

In 2009 Lutherans and Mennonites jointly wrote a description of this common history and during the LWF Eleventh Assembly in Stuttgart in 2010, Lutherans asked Mennonites for forgiveness for their ancestors’ actions. The “Mennonite Action” at this Assembly included commitments for further reconciliation and marked a key moment in relations between the two communions.

Lutherans and Mennonites continue to build on the process of reconciliation which began in the 1980s and resulted in the 2010 action of Lutherans asking forgiveness for the persecution of Anabaptists by their ancestors in the 16th century.

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LWF Eleventh Assembly: Mennonite World Conference President Danisa Ndlovu of Zimbabwe [right] with LWF President Bishop Mark. S. Hanson. Photo: LWF/Erick Coll

Mennonite World Conference

Key Questions
  • What is the meaning of the 16th century Lutheran confessional writings in a 21st century context? How should they be interpreted today - especially those which express the historical hostility towards Anabaptists?
  • What is the background of the historical intolerance towards Anabaptists? How can mutual reconciliation be achieved and implemented in light of teachings about Mennonites, especially in confessional writings?
Activities (UPDATE)
  • Reconciliation process continues, including involving seminaries and theological faculties about the outcomes of the dialogue
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Photo: Jon Carlson for Mennonite World Conference

Milestones

  • 2008 - The LWF Council agrees to explore whether Lutherans might apologize for their ancestors’ actions against Anabaptists, whom the Mennonites regard as their predecessors
  • 2010 - LWF Task Force on “Mennonite Action” is formed
  • 2010 - LWF Eleventh Assembly in Stuttgart asks Mennonites for forgiveness and commits itself to look at ways of implementing a reconciliation process (Report of the Lutheran–Mennonite International Study Commission)
  • 2012 - LWF Task Force holds first meeting in Tutzing, Germany
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Lutheran – Orthodox dialogue

High-level visits and discussions between the LWF and the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the spiritual leadership of the Orthodox world, began in 1967. Plans for a global ecumenical dialogue between the two sides began shortly afterwards and were developed over the following decade. Significant common statements include Salvation: Grace, Justification and Synergy (1998) and Baptism and Chrismation as Sacraments of Initiation into the Church (2004). The topic of the current phase of dialogue, which began in 2019, is focused on the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church.
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Lutheran – Reformed dialogue

Lutherans and Reformed Christians enjoy a “special theological relationship” which has allowed churches in some parts of the world to enter into full communion of ministry and sacraments. In 1968, an ad hoc Lutheran-Reformed Evaluating Committee stated that dialogue should be encouraged and coordinated by the LWF and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC). In 2017, the LWF signed the Wittenberg Witness with the WCRC, affirming the call to continued renewal and cooperation and committing “to explore new forms of life together that will more fully express the communion we already have in Christ.”
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Contact

Rev. Dr Dirk Lange
Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations

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