View the schedule of the program

Sunday, 11 July

• Official opening worship
• Encounter with young people in Saxony (area around Dresden). Small groups are taking the international participants to a trip in their area and have in-depth conversations.

Monday, 12 July

• Presentation of the projects by the participants of the earlier LWF Youth program ENGAGE: LWF Global training for young leaders. This will provide all participants with concrete ideas for their own activities.
• Keynote Presentation on Lutheran identity in action. Bishop Dr Zephania Kameeta (Namibia) reflects on his understanding of Lutheran theology in the midst of the struggles of a society (Liberation of Namibia, Fight against poverty). He provides a model of the engagement of young Lutherans today.

Bishop Dr Zephania Kameeta from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia is the current LWF Vice-President for the African region, elected in 2003.

Zephania Kameeta was born on 7 August 1945 at Otjimbingwe. He was ordained as a pastor of the Evangeliese Lutherse Kerk in Suidwes-Afrika (Rynse Sendingkerk) (ELKSWA) in 1972. Since 1977 he is a member of the Central Committee of SWAPO where he is an active supporter. He was pastor at Lüderitz and Vice-Bishop of the ELKSWA .

In (1989/1990), Bishop Kameeta was elected to the Constituent Assembly the first and second Parliament of the Republic of Namibia, where he served as Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly. He resigned from the Parliament in 2000 and again served as pastor at Maltahöhe. In 2000, Bishop Kameeta was elected as a Moderator of the United Evangelical Mission. He was ordained as Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia in 2002 and elected as an LWF Vice-President for the region of Africa in 2003. In October 2006, Namibia’s NGO consortium appointed Bishop Kameeta as one of the ambassadors to lead the national campaign against poverty under the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP).

Currently, he advocates for the introduction of an Basic Income Grant in Namibia.

• Panel discussion. Young responders discuss the presentation by Bishop Kameeta and involve the entire group.

Tuesday, 13 July

• The day is devoted to an “Open Space Conference”. All participants share the topics they believe the Lutheran communion should prioritize. They are going to discuss them and decide three issues that they will bring to the attention of the LWF General Assembly and their home churches. The day will end with three clear and profiled issues the conference will continue to work with.
• Panel discussion with people in leadership at the Lutheran World Federation.

Wednesday, 14 July

The participants select different areas of interest to learn new creative methods. This is intended as methods to work with groups of young people on topics.

1. Writing for Policy and Advocacy: What are the steps that lead to clear and effective writing for policy and advocacy purposes? This workshop will examine the concepts and processes involved, including:

• analysis of a problem or concern, research, and definition of the relevant issue/s (“What is the problem?”)
• identification of the desired change/s (“How do we want things to change?”)
• consensus-building within a group (“Do we all agree?”)
• identification of the relevant actors/agents to be addressed, and the potential obstacles to change (“Who are we talking to, and why mightn’t they listen?”)
• writing that is concise, persuasive and effective for positive change (“What is our message, and which are the right words?”)
• formulation of advocacy approaches appropriate to the addressees and the context (“What is our strategy?”)
• the art of negotiation and compromise (“How flexible can we be?”)

This workshop is going to write the draft of the message of the Pre-Assembly Youth Conference based on the three key issues that have been identified the day before. The result of the group will be further discussed in the plenary sessions and then be brought to the Assembly in Stuttgart.

Facilitator: Peter Prove.

On 1 July, Peter takes up the post of Executive Director of the Geneva-based Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (www.e-alliance.ch). The EAA is a global Christian advocacy network currently focusing on HIV/AIDS and food security issues. Before that, he was the Assistant to the LWF General Secretary for International Affairs and Human Rights. The lawyer from Australia has a vast experience in finding the right words.

2. Conflict Resolution: To understand basics of methods how to work constructively in conflicts. This workshop gives an introduction into the methods of conflict resolution. The participants will explore analytical tools to understand how conflicts emerge and how people or groups get into conflict with one another. Then, they will look at practical tools that help the conflicting parties to move beyond their conflict. Basic guidelines for conflict resolution and non-violent communication will be discussed and creatively applied to different situations. Participants of this workshop will train the methods of conflict resolution and non-violent communication in role plays within small groups.

Facilitator: Simone Sinn

Simone is an ordained theologian in the Evangelical Church of Württemberg, the host church of the LWF Assembly in Stuttgart. She did her training in conflict resolution in Freiburg (Germany) and currently, she works as researcher at the University of Münster (Germany) in a program on religion and politics.

3. Drama: During this workshop the participants are going to use different theatrical exercises, to get to know each other and to get the creativity started, and hopefully having a lot of fun on the way. They use improvisation and train themselves to be present in what they do. Together they will develop a short play that illustrates one of their key issues.

Facilitator: Maria Carlander

Theologian, Maria Carlander is currently working as a coordinator for a youth exchange program in the Church of Sweden, where young people from Sweden, Tanzania, Costa Rica and Brazil get the chance to experience another church and country for three months.

4. Video: Producing a short video on one of the priority themes.

Facilitator: Jürgen Scheinert

5. Photography: Producing a photo exhibition with a few images on one of the priority themes.

Facilitator: Michael Angelious

6. Facilitating Training: Training in facilitating meetings; for small meetings and also a training for facilitating a business meeting according to the LWF rules of procedure

Facilitator: Petra Schnabel

7. Lessons from ecumenical leadership:

Facilitator: Dr. Ishmael Noko

Rev Dr Ishamel Noko is a theologian from Zimbabwe and currently serving as General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation. During his tenure, the Lutheran World Federation and the Vatican signed the Joint Declaration on Justification, the LWF grew to a membership of churches with more than 70 Million members. He is founding convener of the Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA).

8. Communication: Everything you need to know to create a powerful blog to support your cause.

Facilitator: Emily Davila

Writer and consultant based in Bonn, Germany, Emily Davila is coordinating the LWF Youth Pre-Assembly Media Team. She previously worked for six years representing the Lutheran World Federation at the United Nations in New York where she was an active advocate for youth-led development and women’s rights. While in this role she chaired Ecumenical Women, a coalition of 16 Christian organizations, which launched a popular blog in 2005 to keep in touch with its worldwide membership. She also organized two inter-faith youth peace summits in Kenya and Rwanda. Emily is passionate about communication for social change and thinks young people are important advocates. She holds a Master’s Degree in Strategic Communication from Columbia University.

9. The practice of project management: How do ideas become reality? How can you organize your dreams? How do you feel creativity? How do you make change? Drs Jaap Schep introduces some basic techniques in project management. This is the art to clearly define what change is needed and then sub-divide an action into smaller parts. This way, it is not so difficult any more to actually do it. Do you think, there is change needed in your congregation or community? Here you can learn how to take it on.

Facilitator: Jaap Schep

Dr. Jaap Schep, from the Netherlands, is the Secretary for Project Implementation at the Department for Mission and Development in the Lutheran World Federation. As such, he is responsible for accompanying some 230 mission and development projects in all parts of the world. In addition to that, he is Acting Director for the Department for Mission and Development.

10. Doing theology contextually: Theological reflection on Christian faith and practice has long been in relation to particular contexts, but this has become more evident with the growth of churches and theological work in contexts beyond Europe and North America. This has been reflected in the kind of theological work pursued through the LWF, especially in the recent Theology in the Life of the Church program and the six published books (http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/Dts/DTS-Current_Focus.html).

The morning session will be an introduction to what it means to do theology contextually, beginning with the daily life questions and challenges people face. In the afternoon session, participants will together do this kind of theological reflection in relation to their particular contexts, as well as exploring the challenges in doing “trans-contextual” theology within a global communion of Lutheran churches, especially where there are significant differences. Participants can elect to attend either or both sessions.

Facilitator: Karen Bloomquist

For the past eleven years, Karen Bloomquist has served as Director of the LWF Department for Theology and Studies. She is an ordained pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, where previously Karen has been a seminary professor and directed the department through which ELCA social statements are developed.

Thursday, 15 July

• The first draft of the message of the Pre-Assembly Youth Conference will be presented and discussed. The message contains an elaboration of the three topics to which the conference agreed on Tuesday. The format is developed by the policy-writing group.
• During a session, the young delegates are working according to the rules of procedure of the LWF General Assembly. This empowers them, to also use the format during the real assembly to their advantage.
• The preparation for the presentation during the General Assembly brings the participants together on common concerns.

Friday, 16 July

• The discussion of the draft message will be completed.
• There is one session in order to help participants to come up with a follow-up activity in their home context.

Saturday, 17 July

On their way to Stuttgart, the participants visit the Wartburg, an important site of the Lutheran Reformation.

• The Process
• The Participants
• The theme: Give us today our daily bread
• Practical information