KENYA – On the morning of Thursday, September 14, 2022, individuals within the Worldwide Lutheran Council’s (ILC) 2022 World Convention made an tour to Matongo to go to Neema Lutheran School, the seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK), the convention’s host church.
There they joined members of the seminary neighborhood for a service of Matins in Swahili. The service additionally featured a hymn in Swahili which convention individuals have been studying all through the convention: “Yesu Wangu Simwachi.” A seminary scholar served as liturgist, whereas ELCK Archbishop Joseph Ochola Omolo preached on John 4, drawing out what it means to worship God in spirit and in fact. A Bible examine on 1 Kings 8:22-30 adopted, led by Rev. Joseph Abuor, a doctoral scholar from Kenya.
Following this, the convention heard a report from Rev. Dr. Steven Schumacher of the ILC’s Worldwide Accreditation Company (ILCAA). The ILCAA is a brand new initiative of the ILC that can “strengthen confessional Lutheran theological schooling,” he defined. This system will be sure that collaborating seminaries and faculties all present sturdy theological coaching that’s recognizable and transferable to different establishments for larger tutorial examine.
Along with offering requirements for an establishments’ academic program and mission and integrity, the ILCAA may also present requirements for: governance, administration, and funds; planning and evaluation; school, schooling, and workers; scholar providers; and assets.
Liturgy, Theology, and Tradition
The morning session continued with the third of 4 main displays on the convention theme. Rev. Dr. Joseph Tom Omolo, Principal of Neema Lutheran School, gave a lecture entitled “The Relationship Between Liturgy, Theology, and Tradition.”
Dr. Omolo argued that, for Christian worship to be appropriately introduced right into a given tradition, it’s essential to “steadiness the native and the common natures of Christian liturgy, in order that the overarching which means in liturgy is neither misplaced nor communicated unintelligibly to the individuals.” Key to placing this steadiness is cautious constancy to the doctrine which underlies liturgical expression: “the content material of worship,” he defined, should stay “according to the church’s doctrine and the general Christian narrative.”
“Significant worship is that by which Christ’s reward of life and salvation is obtainable to the sinful man in a transparent and intelligible language in order that the individuals expertise this reward in an comprehensible approach,” Dr. Omolo concluded. However when pursuing such adaptation, he cautioned, “care have to be taken in order that the liturgy stays Christian in its core and objective, and continues to bear the marks of the catholicity of the church of Christ. To achieve such steadiness, inculturation should take critically the complementary dynamics between liturgy and doctrine, in order that celebration of the liturgy in several cultures is finished throughout the framework of the Christian language anchored within the biblical narrative.”
Following Principal Omolo’s presentation, Bishop Juan Pablo Lanterna of the Confessional Lutheran Church of Chile (ILC-Chile), additionally addressed the topic of liturgy and tradition, offering a concrete instance within the just lately revealed Spanish hymnal produced in Latin America: Himnario Luterano. The hymnal was first conceived by the Chilean church 14 years in the past, ultimately rising to change into a joint mission of the ILC-Chile, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Paraguay (IELP), and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Argentina (IELA).
The brand new hymnal is “a contribution from the mission discipline to the mission discipline,” stated Bishop Lanterna, “a contribution from Latin America to Latin America, and from confessional Lutherans to confessional Lutherans.”
Certainly, Bishop Lanterna continued, the brand new hymnal can justly be thought of the third most vital confessional Lutheran publication ever revealed in Spanish, preceded by Casiodoro de Reina’s basic 1569 translation of the Bible in addition to the Spanish translation of the Lutheran Confessions.
The hymnal, which includes tons of of basic and up to date hymns in addition to newly supplies providers for Matins, Vespers, and Complines, has been obtained with pleasure by Spanish-speaking Lutherans. Requested what influence the hymnal can have, the missionaries who started the mission have been clear: “They unanimously responded,” Bishop Lanterna defined, that it’s going to assist Spanish-speaking Lutherans to “revalue and uncover confessional Lutheran liturgical theology.”
The morning session concluded with a lunch on the grounds of the seminary.
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Mathew Block is Communications Supervisor for the Worldwide Lutheran Council. He’s additionally editor of The Canadian Lutheran journal, and previously served as Communications Supervisor for Lutheran Church–Canada.
