• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

COVID-19: Updates and Resources

  • LCA Portal
  • Staff Login
  • Login to (old) LAMP
  • LCA Online Donations
  • Contact

Lutheran Church of Australia

where love comes to life

MENUMENU
  • HOME
  • ABOUT US
    • A BIT ABOUT US

      The Lutheran Church is the largest Protestant church in the world, with over 70 million members. This website tells the story of Australian and New Zealand Lutherans, following Jesus Christ – where love comes to life. Whoever you are, whatever your story, you're welcome here with us.
    • MORE ABOUT US

      • OUR PEOPLE
      • OUR LOGO, OUR MISSION
      • OUR BELIEFS AND TEACHINGS
        • WHAT LUTHERANS BELIEVE – VIDEO SERIES
      • HOW WE WORSHIP
      • OUR STRUCTURE (GOVERNANCE)
        • NOMINATIONS
      • OUR HISTORY
      • LUTHERANS WORLDWIDE
        • WHAT LUTHERANS BELIEVE
          • WHAT LUTHERANS BELIEVE – VIDEO SERIES
        • HISTORY OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH
  • THE LATEST
    • THE LATEST

      • COVID-19 RETURNING TO WORSHIP
      • CHURCH@HOME RESOURCES
      • CHURCH@HOME WORSHIP
      • DAILY DEVOTION
      • STORY OF THE WEEK
      • SPREAD THE WORD bulletins and announcements
      • NEWS
      • FEATURE STORIES
      • COLUMNS
      • THE LUTHERAN
      • LCA FACEBOOK
    • THE LATEST

      • BULLETIN INSERTS
      • CALLS – EMPLOYMENT – VOLUNTEERING
      • eNEWS LISTS
      • BOOK: SPIRIT FILLED
  • DEPARTMENTS & AGENCIES
    • DEPARTMENTS

      • DEPARTMENTS – OVERVIEW & SEARCH
      • DISTRICTS
      • OFFICE OF THE BISHOP
        • LCA INTERNATIONAL MISSION
        • RECONCILIATION MINISTRY
      • LOCAL MISSION
        • CHILD YOUTH & FAMILY MINISTRY (GROW MINISTRIES)
        • CROSS-CULTURAL MINISTRY
          • Cross Cultural Ministry Conference
        • LUTHERAN MEDIA
        • MINISTRY WITH THE AGEING
        • NEW & RENEWING CHURCHES
          • NEW CHURCHES
          • RENEWING CHURCHES
    • DEPARTMENTS & AGENCIES

      • MINISTRY SUPPORT
        • CHURCH WORKER SUPPORT
        • COMMUNICATIONS
          • THE LUTHERAN
        • FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION
          • INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
        • LUTHERAN ARCHIVES
        • PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
      • EDUCATION & TRAINING
        • AUSTRALIAN LUTHERAN COLLEGE
        • LUTHERAN EDUCATION AUSTRALIA
      • AUSTRALIAN LUTHERAN WORLD SERVICE
      • FINKE RIVER MISSION
      • LLL
        • LUTHERAN TRACT MISSION
    • COMMISSIONS & MINISTRY GROUPS

      • COMMISSIONS
        • SOCIAL AND BIOETHICAL QUESTIONS
          • LUTHERANS FOR LIFE
          • CAMPAIGN AGAINST DOMESTIC & FAMILY VIOLENCE
        • THEOLOGY AND INTER-CHURCH RELATIONS
        • WORSHIP
          • VISUAL ARTS
      • MINISTRY GROUPS
        • DEAF MINISTRY
        • LUTHERAN NURSES
        • LUTHERAN MEN
        • LUTHERAN SINGLES
        • LUTHERAN WOMEN
        • YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY
  • SERVICES & RESOURCES
    • SERVICES & RESOURCES

      • OVERVIEW & SUMMARY
      • BIBLE READING PLAN
      • BULLETIN NOTICES
      • BUSINESS PARTNERS
      • CAMPAIGN AGAINST DOMESTIC AND FAMILY VIOLENCE
      • CHILD YOUTH & FAMILY MINISTRY (GROW MINISTRIES)
      • COMMUNICATIONS
      • CONGREGATION WEBSITES
      • DAILY DEVOTIONS
      • DOCTRINAL STATEMENTS & THEOLOGICAL OPINIONS
      • EMPLOYMENT & VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES
      • ENEWS
      • FORMS
      • HUMAN RESOURCE SYSTEM
      • INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
      • LAMP2
      • LCA FACEBOOK
      • LCA NOTICE BOARD
    • SERVICES & RESOURCES

      • OVERVIEW & SUMMARY
      • LCA LOGO
      • LCA POLICIES & STANDARDS OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR
      • LCA SONG
      • LUTHERAN ARCHIVES
      • MINISTRY WITH THE AGEING
      • NEW & RENEWING CHURCHES
      • REGULAR ELECTRONIC GIVING (REG)
      • STORY OF THE WEEK
      • STUDY ASSISTANCE
      • STUDY GUIDES
      • TELECOMMUNICATIONS
      • THE LUTHERAN
      • TRACTS
      • WORSHIP
      • WORSHIP LIVE STREAMING AND DVDs
      • VOLUNTEERING & EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
    • CONFERENCES & TRAINING

      • CONFERENCE – SENT
      • CONFERENCE – New Horizons
      • TRAINING – Continuing Education for Pastors
      • TRAINING – Professional Standards
      • TRAINING – Congregational Leadership Training
      • TRAINING – Reconciliation Ministry
      • TRAINING – SENT Evangelism Training
      • TRAINING – New Life New Love – Videos
      • TRAINING – Campaign against Family & Domestic Violence Resources and Training
  • PROJECTS & EVENTS
    • PROJECTS, CONSULTATONS & EVENTS

      • OVERVIEW: PROJECTS, EVENTS, CONSULTATIONS & DIALOGUES
      • CONSTITUTION REVIEW
      • ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE ADJUDICATION AND APPEALS REVIEW
      • CALL PROCESS REVIEW
      • LUTHERAN AGED CARE & COMMUNITY SERVICES – GOVERNANCE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
        • WELCOME TO LUTHERAN AGED CARE AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
      • WORKING GROUP – COMMISSIONS & INQUIRIES
    • PROJECTS, CONSULTATIONS & EVENTS

      • OVERVIEW: PROJECTS, EVENTS, CONSULTATIONS & DIALOGUES
      • CONVENTION OF GENERAL SYNOD 2021
      • LONGEST LUTHERAN LUNCH
      • LUTHERAN WINEMAKERS ANNUAL RELEASE
      • RECONCILIATION ACTION PLAN
  • FIND A …

‘More that unites us than divides us’

1 November 2016

by LCA Communications
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

 

Today, we hear God’s command to set aside all conflict. We recognise that we are freed by grace to move towards the communion to which God continually calls us

After 500 years of division, Catholic and Lutheran church leaders have come together in a historic show of unity, leading a joint prayer service in Sweden on Reformation Day, 31 October.

In addition to the Service of Common Prayer in Lund (Lutheran) Cathedral attended by 500 guests, the Joint Catholic-Lutheran Commemoration of the Reformation featured a public event at Malmö Arena attended by around 10,000 people. Proceedings were followed by people around the world via broadcasts and livestreams.

It was the first joint commemoration of a Reformation anniversary on a global scale. Bishop John Henderson represented the LCA, while Australian Lutheran World Service Executive Secretary Chey Mattner attended on behalf of the LCA’s overseas aid agency.

His Holiness Pope Francis joined Lutheran World Federation (LWF) President Bishop Dr Munib A Younan and LWF General Secretary Rev Dr Martin Junge in committing the churches they lead to move away from conflict, journey towards communion and to strengthen their common witness. Pope Francis and President Younan signed the joint statement which also gives thanks to God for ‘sustained and fruitful’ ecumenical dialogue which means the partners ‘are no longer strangers’. It also expresses gratitude for ‘spiritual and theological gifts received through the Reformation’.

‘Today, we hear God’s command to set aside all conflict. We recognise that we are freed by grace to move towards the communion to which God continually calls us’, the statement says.

Pope Francis and Dr Junge each preached in Spanish on the gospel of the true vine (John 15:1-5), testifying to the unity Lutherans and Catholics enjoy through Christ and the opportunities for joint witness in a world in need of the saving message of the gospel.

Dr Junge focused on the Joint Statement theme that what unites Lutherans and Catholics is far greater than what divides them. ‘As we see Jesus among us, we have also started to see each other anew. We acknowledge that there is much more that unites us than that which separates us. We are branches of the same vine. We are one in baptism. This is why we are here at this joint commemoration: to rediscover who we are in Christ’, he said.

Pope Francis said: ‘Now, in the context of the commemoration of the Reformation of 1517, we have a new opportunity to accept a common path, one that has taken shape over the past 50 years in the ecumenical dialogue. We have the opportunity to mend a critical moment of our history by moving beyond the controversies and disagreements that have often prevented us from understanding one another.’

At the Malmö Arena activities held under the theme ‘Together in Hope’, LWF Lutheran World Service director Maria Immonen and Caritas Internationalis Secretary General Michel Roy signed a Declaration of Intent committing the global Christian aid organisations to closer cooperation in their work towards humanitarian responses and sustainable development.


 

  • Read the joint sermon by Pope Francis and LWF General Secretary Rev Dr Martin Junge
  • You can watch the Joint Catholic–Lutheran Commemoration of the Reformation on the LCA YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_mi-x8g5z8
  • Listen to the ABC’s radio interview with Bishop John Henderson about this event.

READ MORE STORIES ABOUT ecumenism, international, LWF, Reformation, Roman Catholic

« Re-thinking how we form faith
A new year to reach out »

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Church Worker Support
  • Church@Home
  • Columns
    • #youngsavedfree
    • bring Jesus
    • Dwelling in God's Word
    • Going GREYt!
    • Little Church
    • Movie Reviews
    • Rhythms of Grace
    • Stepping Stones
  • COVID-19 response
  • Daily Devotion
  • Feature Stories
  • Features Homepage
  • LCA Bishop
    • Heartland (The Lutheran)
    • Messages
    • Sermons & Presentations
  • News
  • Our Lutheran Family
    • New Zealand
      • Palmerston North, St Lukes
    • Victoria-Tasmania
      • Hobart St Peter's
  • Presentations & Papers
  • Reconciliation Ministry
  • Story of the Week
  • Uncategorized

Tags

50.500 Aboriginal/Indigenous aid ALC ALWS appointments awards bishops children church workers COVID-19 easter ecumenism forms Grow Ministries HRS international International Mission LCA bishop local mission Lutheran Education LWF music natural disasters new and renewing churches NSW NZ ordination pastors PNG prayer professional standards Qld Reformation refugees Royal Commission SA-NT schools social issues technology Vic-Tas WA women in leadership worship youth and young adults

Archives for all Posts

  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015
  • 2014
  • 2013
  • 2011
  • Don't be the last to find out!

    Join over 4000 people receiving LCA eNews in their inbox every fortnight. It brings you the latest of everything, including updates from this page. It's free, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

    Sign up here

    Footer

    Quicklinks

    • HOME
    • DEPARTMENTS & AGENCIES

     

    • SERVICES, RESOURCES & TRAINING
    • PROJECTS & EVENTS
    • FIND A …

    Contact us

    197 Archer Street
    North Adelaide SA 5006

    08 8267 7300
    email us

    © 2021 Lutheran Church of Australia

    Privacy Policy • Disclaimer

    Designed by LCA Communications