Author Archives: lwfyouth

A New Year of the Youth?

Posted on January 4, 2012 | 1 Comment

The year of the youth - announced by the United Nations - ended last August. But 2011 was not just ordained by the UN. Young people themselves took the lead and made it a year of the youth. In the protest movements called the “Arab Spring” and in the globalized “Occupy” demonstrations, young people made their voices heard. And they changed history.

Welcoming the new year, major church leaders made young people their primary topic. Pope Benedikt XVI., the head of the Roman Catholic Church, said in his new year address he was convinced that “that the young, with their enthusiasm and idealism, can offer new hope to the world.” He also called on those in power:

“Attentiveness to young people and their concerns, the ability to listen to them and appreciate them, is not merely something expedient; it represents a primary duty for society as a whole, for the sake of building a future of justice and peace.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the head of the Anglican communion, also emphasized young people. He reflected on the horrible riots in London and other British cities in 2011. However, he did not just blame young people for them:

“We have to ask, what kind of society is it that lets down so many of its young people? That doesn’t provide enough good role models and drives youngsters further into unhappiness and anxiety by only showing them suspicion and negativity. When you see the gifts they can offer, the energy that can be released when they feel safe and loved, you see what a tragedy we so often allow to happen.”

Williams continued to remind the listeners that Christian faith has always stressed the contributions of young people:

“One of the unique things in the Christian faith, one of its great contributions to our moral vision, is the way it has spoken about children and young people. Whether it’s Jesus blessing children, or St Paul encouraging a young church leader, saying, ‘Don’t let people look down on you because you’re young’, or St Benedict in his rule for monks saying that you need to pay attention to the youngest as well as the oldest – Christian faith has underlined the essential importance of giving young people the respect they deserve.”

While I am not aware of current messages of Lutheran leaders emphasizing the importance of young people, these voices are very valuable also for the Lutheran communion.

But what does it mean for us? What are your plans for 2012 to make the world a better place? Please add your ideas in the comment section.

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Posted in Youth, Youth Ministry, Youth participation

Position of the LWF Youth Secretary announced

Posted on December 19, 2011 | 4 Comments

By Roger Schmidt, Secretary for LWF Youth

Change is good. That is the reason why positions in the LWF communion office are only given for a limited time. My fantastic time here in Geneva of advocating for stronger youth participation and working with all of you comes to end in the middle of 2012.

Therefore, I am glad that the General Secretary has already announced the vacancy and the search for a new youth secretary for the LWF has started. You can view the vacancy announcement here (pdf). The applications need to be received by 31 January 2012.

Therefore, please discern for yourself whether you might be the right person to apply, also think whether there are other you should forward this information. Are there great people that you have gotten to know who would be the right ones to do this work?

The work of our communion does not depend on single individuals. God sustains it and we are in this work together. However, it is important to think who should be given a role of coordination. Please help to find the right person by applying yourself and encouraging others to apply.

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Posted in Life, LWF

On the way to eco-justice

Posted on November 29, 2011 | Leave a comment

How can we get closer to ecological justice? Just asking this questions is not enough for 32 young Christians gathering in Durban, South Africa, since Sunday. They are part of Youth for Eco-Justice (or Y4EJ), a program jointly organized by the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation.

The training aims at empowering the young participants and their communities to get even stronger in their efforts to achieve more justice among human beings and between humanity and nature. The participants use events around the Durban Climate Change Summit (COP 17 of UNFCC) to learn more and then to plan concrete actions for their home contexts.

For the 8 Lutheran participants it is at the same time the conclusion of the 2011 LWF together - the earth needs you.

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Posted in Ecological Justice, LWF together - the earth needs you

Peacemakers wanted!

Posted on November 10, 2011 | Leave a comment

German churches invite young people to a Peace Academy in Dresden, Germany, around Pentecost 2012 (25-28 May). This international gathering of young people from 16-27 years old explores themes of peace and reconciliation globally. They are also going to present approaches how peace can be achieved, like de-escalation classes.

The academy invites people from Germany but this year especially from other countries. For participants from outside Germany, there is no attendance fee and even a travel subsidy may be paid.

For more information look at this flyer (pdf) and visit the homepage.

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Posted in Life

Ideas for LWF together in 2012

Posted on October 25, 2011 | 4 Comments


It was an experiment. For the first time, the Lutheran World Federation invited youth groups around the world to share their hopes and dreams by partnering to groups in other parts of the world (as you can see in the short video above).

But how can this experiment move on and take on concerns that were raised? Here is the idea.

More languages actively supported: The last guide book is already available in five languages. Besides that, there would be volunteer language coordinators for six languages or so who would help run the program and are able to support the youth groups in their respective languages.

Not one, but three programs: There would be three different types of LWF together:

  • LWF together intensive: This is similar to the setup in 2011. Three youth groups from different continents work together for a longer period of time. This form is for groups that have a better endurance but will be rewarded with friendships and deep learning.
  • LWF together camp: In the Lutheran communion, there are many youth ministries that organize camps of different sorts: Some just for a weekend, others for several weeks. In this segment, LWF provides resources for leaders of camps in order to help them prepare their programs and offer a way to connect their work with the wider communion.
  • LWF together action: Every month or so, a youth group suggests an action that they are doing in their own context. That might waste cleaning, a special worship service or something completely different. They are inviting other youth groups to do the same in their context. This way, ideas and concrete actions spread around the world.
These are some of the ideas we are discussing. It would be great if you could give your input below. What do you think about these ideas for the LWF together next year?

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Posted in LWF together - the earth needs you, Youth, Youth Ministry, Youth participation

The final stretch of the journey of LWF together

Posted on October 24, 2011 | Leave a comment

A journey is nearing its end. Many of the participants are going to end it with prayer and a celebration.

It was a journey that brought together 100 groups of young people from different places in the world. There were many exchanges on biblical texts and how young people see current problems - surrounding the environment and justice.

This journey was not always easy. Some groups lost momentum and stopped meeting. The contact between groups was difficult in most cases; it is just not easy to communicate with people you have never met, in a language which is not your native one and using the Internet.

Next Sunday, Reformation Sunday, many groups are going to talk about LWF together in the worship services of their congregations. And they are all going to pray for the partner groups.

We are also going to use this week in order to discuss about the future of LWF together. Tomorrow, there will be a post on some ideas for next year’s program and your comments on it. Later this week, we are also going to invite applications for coordinators of the program.

So, stay tuned for a week of conversation about LWF together, leading up to the Reformation Day finale.

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Posted in Enviroment, Faith, Justice, LWF, LWF together - the earth needs you, Spirituality, Youth, Youth Ministry, Youth participation

Working for Eco-Justice

Posted on October 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

View Larger Map

The ecological crisis is a global challenge. It requires global responses that make sense locally. This is exactly the aim of the initiative of the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation “Youth for Eco-Justice”. We are trying to understand the global ecological and economic crisis better, identify the injustices theologically and biblically and develop together responses that fit to our various contexts. On this blog we are keeping you up-to-date with new developments and are very interested to hear from you and your experiences. The joint experience kicks off with a training in Durban, South Africa at the end of the year.

The map above shows where the participants of our upcoming training come from. In the next few weeks, we are going to post also short profiles of all the participants. Please write a comment right after the post if you would like to get in touch with them directly.

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Posted in Church, Ecological Justice, Ecumenism, Enviroment, LWF, UN, Youth participation

Ideas for Durban - Advocating for a global approach on Climate Change

Posted on October 11, 2011 | 2 Comments

The World meets in Durban at the end of the year for another round of negotiations around a unified response to climate change. The stakes are high. Currently, the countries of the world have not agreed how they react to climate change together in the next years.

LWF Youth is going to be part of the conference with seven young people from around the communion together with a bigger group organized by the World Council of churches. Our approach is to look at the wider issues of justice and not to get lost in the technical details of the negotiations. Therefore, we are not going to spend most of our time in observing the talks but rather work on the future of a theological approach to ecological justice and what that may mean in the home contexts of the participants.

Therefore, also your ideas and contributions are needed. We are going to send out much more information in the following weeks.

And definitely, your governments need encouragement to get the job done in Durban. They are going to negotiate on the basis of a inter-governmental treaty called United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. There are two basic goals: (1) To mitigate the impact of climate change by minimizing the human contribution to climate, ie. reducing the output of Carbon Dioxide and other climate gases. (2) To adapt to the changing climate by financing for poorer countries measures like improving agriculture and preparation against disasters.

It would be highly important that the governments come up with a clear and binding outcome.

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Posted in Ecological Justice, LWF together - the earth needs you, UN

Two months to go - LWF together

Posted on September 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

Reformation Day marks the end of the first run of LWF together - the earth needs you. But there is still a lot to do until then!

The first part of the year, the groups spent in understanding better the biblical connections to creation and justice. They also tried to understand their context better and analyzed particular environmental problems.

Now, it is about to start a concrete activity. The guidebook of LWF together lays out some ideas. But obviously, the activities are supposed to fit into the context and does not overburden the group.

Then the groups are also invited to celebrate the conclusion of the program with a prayer or by leading a part of the worship of the congregation. More ideas for that will be shared later.

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Posted in LWF together - the earth needs you, Youth, Youth Ministry, Youth participation

Mid-term reviews for LWF together

Posted on August 26, 2011 | 1 Comment

Less than four months ago, the Lutheran World Federation launched an exciting new program for young adults: LWF together - the earth needs you. More than 100 groups of young people joined and are since then in contact with two other groups in different continents. We asked the leaders of the groups to give their impressions of the first months.

How is it going?

Many groups report to be quite happy with the program. Motiviated groups are working on the basis of the LWF together guidebook and are in contact with other groups. They are doing the bible studies and exchange perspectives.

Many groups, however, report problems to be in contact with one or sometimes even both partner groups. Also, groups differ very much in speed. There are groups that meet once a week, others only once a month.

Another issue for groups is the different timing of school holidays. There are countries in the Northern hemisphere that have school vacations from June to September. During that time, it is very difficult for groups to meet. For many groups in the Southern hemisphere, it is exactly the opposite. It is school time and it is easy to meet regularly.

Ideas to improve

The leaders of the groups contributed several ideas:

  • More frequent communication from the LWF office could help keep the groups on track.
  • Perhaps inviting to concrete action would help the groups to do specific things (beyond the action ideas in the guidebook).
  • Share the snail mail addresses in order to make contacts possible for those who have bad Internet connection.
  • Organize real life meeting within a given country.
  • The guidebook should be more clear about how the outcome of the group should be shared.
Certainly, there are even more ideas of what could be improved. Please share your ideas in the comment section.

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Posted in LWF, LWF together - the earth needs you, Youth, Youth Ministry, Youth participation