Lutheran Ampelmann: Kirchentag in Hannover

Two weeks ago was the SELK's 8th Annual Kirchentag ("Church Day") in Hannover. As far as I'm aware, we don't have anything comparable to Kirchentag in the LCMS. Here it's an entire weekend (despite it's name) of lectures, workshops, concerts, worship services, stands and displays. The synod rented the Congress Center in Hannover (a huge place with dozens of lecture halls and conference rooms) to host the event. And it's not just for pastors or theology students; lots and lots of laypeople - entire families even - and lots of youth, spent the whole weekend there. The student body of LThH decided to go as a group to represent the seminary. We had T-shirts made for us all to wear over the weekend, we had our own stand to man, and we even held a Bible-study workshop on Saturday morning, to which about 100 people came. It was a fun, busy, interesting, tiring, thought-provoking weekend.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from our workshop, but I do have the following clip which we made and showed as part of our presentation. I was one of the Lego architects... Even if you don't know Germany, I think you'll be able to follow the clip: "The Healing of a Blind Man"

Now for some pictures that I did take at the Kirchentag...

Workshop/Lecture with SELK Provost Gerd Kelter (like a District Pres. in the LCMS) on church fellowship - very good.

This is the main auditorium, where large events were held, including an opening and closing service as well as Divine Service on Sunday morning.

Sunday Morning Divine Service - not bad. It was done better than I would have expected for such a large setting. Unfortunately the Bishop's sermon left something to be desired, but for the most part the liturgy was done well and good hymns were sung.

There was even communion. I was very curious at first as to how they were going to manage that, but it actually was done well, I think. The celebrant consecrated all the elements at the altar (very reverently, I might add), and then several pastors vested in alb and stole took the elements from the altar to the various side altars that had been set up at different places in the auditorium and administered the Body and Blood of Christ to the communicants in that area. (These pictures were taken before the service.)

On Saturday night there was a BIG soccer game - FC Bavaria vs. FC Chelsea in the Champions League Finale. An extremely exciting, intense, drawn-out game ... unfortunately with a disappointing ending for Bavaria (and Germany in general). Bavaria lost in overtime - penalty shoot-out. :(

Guess what this is? German, Christian Jazz Music. That's right - German, Christian Jazz.

A very interesting talk by a former Muslim from Turkey about his conversion to Christianity.

Here's our stand in the "Room of Possibilities." We had a bunch of pictures of campus life, various brochures and books for people to look at or buy, maps of Germany and of the world with pins showing where all the current students hail from... It was a pretty cool stand.

Our stand again.

Some other stands...

INitiative für Frauen-Ordination

(Initiative for Women's Ordination)

This group openly promotes women's ordination within the SELK. The fact that they have their own stand with brochures and materials at the SELK Kirchentag is in indication of the fact that the debate over women's ordination is much more alive here in our sister congregation in Germany than it is in the LCMS at the moment. The green poster in the back reads "Women for the Pastoral Office" (as in, we want women in the pastoral office).

They had a running slide show with various pictures of people who support this group with a quotation telling why they are in favor of women's ordination. This one reads, "I support INfO because it hinders people's faith when within the context of this faith they are supposed to reject basic rights."

At the side of their stand was this board which says at the top, "Your opinion is important to us!" Here's what some of the comments says: "We'll accomplish more with women!" "Theologically opposed!" "Theologically in favor!" "It won't work without women." "I wish that women's ordination would be introduced in our church so that we women wouldn't have to feel like devaluated members of the second class any more." I wrote (upper left, in German): "My concern in this debate is, above all, that we take God's Word seriously and that we don't place our own sentiments above it." I also wrote the one at the bottom right (though it was someone else's idea): "Tolle, lege." It's a famous line from Augustine's Confessions meaning, "take and read"...