Wilhelm Loehe is one of the most significant nineteenth-century figures for North American church life and mission, whose influence continues into the present. Loehe is unique for joining together aspects of the Christian life often held to be antithetical: worship and mission, orthodoxy and pietism, evangelical proclamation and diakonia, and theological imagination and practical skill in administration. Already in the nineteenth century Loehe contributed a vital principle for advancing ecumenical understanding: the idea of "open questions." When the church confesses core teachings as one, there does not need to be agreement on all secondary matters in order to live together in church fellowship. This book explores Loehe's historical activity as a pastor, as a supporter of mission in North America, as an organizer (together with Friedrich Bauer) of theological education in North America, and as a founder of deaconess institutions in Neuendettelsau, Germany, that still exist today. The central themes represented by Loehe not only constitute a matrix that has significance for the church and its mission today but also constitute an agenda for the church of the future.

"Mission is nothing but the one church of God in motion." With these words the famous German Lutheran theologian Wilhelm Loehe described the essence of missionary work. Mission moves the church and crosses boundaries to form the one universal church. In 1842, Loehe started missionary work in the small Bavarian town of Neuendettelsau in southern Germany, as he sent two young men as "emergency helpers" to North America. He supported the formation of Lutheran congregations that later joined together to become the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS). Together with Friedrich Bauer he founded a mission seminary that sent, until 1985, nearly 900 graduates as pastors and missionaries not only to the USA, but also to Australia, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Palestine. From this the present center Mission One World of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria developed, which maintains partnership relations to churches in Africa, Asia/Pacific, and Latin America. This book describes the history of this missionary movement up to the present time and puts the Bavarian missionary work into the context of mission theology and strategies in the twentieth century.

Dieser Sonderband beinhaltet die Vorträge von 26 Theologinnen und Theologen aus 12 verschiedenen Ländern, die sich zu einer einwöchigen Internationalen Sommerschule an der Universität Regensburg versammelten, um darüber nachzudenken, wie sich Mission und friedliche Koexistenz miteinander vereinbaren lassen. Eine zu beobachtende Zunahme nationalistischer und fundamentalistischer Strömungen in vielen asiatischen Ländern, in denen Christen weitgehend Minderheiten darstellen, aber auch einige Entwicklungen in Deutschland, wie Säkularisierung und Migrantenbewegung, zeigen die Dringlichkeit der Auseinandersetzung mit dieser Thematik. Die Beiträge dieses Bandes reflektieren Themengebiete wie Bildung, Ökumene und Historie. Teilnehmer und Autoren sind überwiegend Schüler und Schülerinnen des Regensburger Systematikers Hans Schwarz, dessen Arbeitsgebiete sich in den einzelnen Themengebieten widerspiegeln. The special volume in the series Glaube und Denken contains papers presented by 26 theologians from 12 different countries. The authors convened at the university of Regensburg for a week-long International Summer School. They pondered how mission and peaceful co-existence can be achieved under newly emerging conditions. They observed a rise of nationalistic and fundamentalist currents in many Asian countries in which Christians are often a minority. Furthermore, developments in Germany, such as secularization and the increasing number of believers of other religions through the influx of immigrants, show the urgency to reflect on this new situation. The collected papers touch topics such as education, ecumenism, and history. Most of the participants are students of the Regensburg systematic theologian Hans Schwarz whose special fields of interest are mirrored in these topics.

Lena Böttcher offers an overdue exploration of the early years of the deaconess community in Neuendettelsau from a gender perspective. Drawing on rich archival material, she focuses on the process of a distinctive collective identity. Central to this study is the assumption, drawn from the social sciences, that collective identity is a social construction which requires the participation of the whole group through identification and which is consolidated by developing specific rituals, symbols, codes and normative texts, which facilitate integration, and by constructing external boundaries, which separate from the world and the wider church. This approach highlights the fact that the women were not merely passive recipients but participated and contributed to the formation of a distinct Neuendettelsau deaconess culture. Thus, this study offers an explanation for the popularity such institutes enjoyed amongst single and widowed Protestant women in the latter half of the nineteenth century. In consequence, this study significantly widens the scope of historical research on the Institute which so far has tended to take into account solely the male perspective of the Rektoren.

The Lord warns of a "famine . . . of hearing the word of the Lord" (Amos 8:11). Has this warning come to pass in our day? There is no shortage of preachers, but how often do they miss the mark in actually delivering the word of God to their hearers, leaving them hungry? The authors of these essays seek to equip preachers with resources to offer their hearers a rich feast from the word of the Lord. Writing from a Lutheran perspective, contributors from across the globe provide a fresh approach to preaching. These authors represent seasoned pastors and professors as well as young scholars. All are actively preaching and teaching God's word on a regular basis. This book covers a wide range of topics relating to preaching--from the scriptural background and hermeneutical issues to historical examples of notable preachers, and also practical guides to crafting and delivering a sermon. These essays will assist preachers in proclaiming God's word in a manner that provides a feast for those living in a famine-stricken world.

The Reformation of the 16th century was a complex and multifaceted political, social, cultural, and religious process. Most historians agree, however, that in the framework of this process it was the religious and theological efforts to reform and renew the late medieval church—decadent and irrelevant in many ways—that were the initiating forces that set a broad historical movement in motion. Among these reforming religious and theological forces, the Lutheran reform movement was the most important and influential one. It was the historical impact of the theological genius of the Wittenberg professor Martin Luther (1483-1546) that profoundly changed and shaped the face of Europe and beyond. Today, Lutheranism has become a worldwide communion of churches that stretches from Germany to Siberia, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar, and Surinam. The second edition of the Historical Dictionary of Lutheranism presents information on major theological issues, historical developments of Lutheranism worldwide, Lutheran ecumenical and missionary involvement and activities, worship and liturgy, spirituality, social ethics, inter-religious and Jewish relations, Lutheranism and the arts, theology, and important representatives of Lutheranism. This is done through a detailed chronology, an introductory essay, an appendix of Lutheran Churches, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Lutheranism.