LCC contributors to Festschrift honouring former ILC Chairman, Bishop Hans-Jörg Voigt

SELK Bishop Hans-Jörg Voigt (Photo: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod/Erik M. Lunsford.)

INTERNATIONAL – The International Lutheran Council (ILC) has announced that its former Chairman, Bishop Hans-Jörg Voigt of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany (Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche – SELK), was honoured with a Festschrift to mark his 60th birthday.

The Festschrift was presented to Bishop Voigt in December of 2022, and includes contributions from several Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) members. In fact, the book’s dedicatory hymn—”I Will Be Present, Says the Lord”—was written by LCC’s Rev. Kurt Reinhardt, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Gowanstown, Ontario.

The book features contributions in English and German, and is entitled Dienst an der Kirche durch Wort und Sakrament: Theologie und Kirche in konfessioneller und ökumenischer Verantwortung [“Service to the Church Through Word and Sacrament: Theology and Church in Confessional and Ecumenical Responsibility”]. Essays categories include: the Word of God; the Ministry of the Church; the History of the Church; Church Teaching; Church Practice; and the Relationship between Church and Society.

The book also features two pieces of writing in German by Bishop Voigt himself on the topics: “Discovering Marriage and Family as Gifts of God” and “Bringing the Reformation to the World: The Means of Grace.” These texts are available in English online here and here. The full book is available from Edition Ruprecht.

Dienst an der Kirche durch Wort und Sakrament.

LCC members providing essays for the volume include: LCC Past President Robert Bugbee (“The ILC: Coming of Age”); Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary (CLTS) President Thomas M. Winger (“‘Let no one despise your youth’ (1 Tim 4:12): Paul’s Encouragement to Timothy in His First Episcopal Epistle”); and CLTS Professor Emeritus John R. Stephenson (“Quomodo ‘sacramentum ordinis’? In What Sense is Ordination a Sacrament?”).

Other contributors come from a variety of nations and church backgrounds—a testament to the reach and diversity of Bishop Voigt’s impact through his work for the ILC and beyond.

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Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) is a member of the International Lutheran Council (ILC). Learn more on LCC’s website Here or by visiting the ILC website Here.

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