Council of Lutheran Churches: Living the Gospel, Serving our neighbour
The February 2025 issue of our monthly newsletter is available here. Highlights include the CLC clergy retreat, a visit to Oxford to meet our Sanctuary Scholarship recipient, Estonian visitors and celebrations, and an introduction to our Lenten campaign: Season of Giving.
‘I would never have dreamed of studying at Oxford University.’
With her engaging smile and amiable demeanour, Alina Kravchuk could be mistaken for any other young and promising university student. Her journey to this point, however, has been anything but ordinary. Born and educated in Ukraine, she found the trajectory of her legal studies interrupted by the Russian invasion, compelling her to relocate to foreign universities, first in Lithuania and then Vienna. When the opportunity of a place on Oxford’s Magister Juris course presented itself—along with the means to fully fund it—Alina could scarcely believe the chance she was being offered.
Ms. Kravchuk is the 2024/2025 recipient of the Sanctuary Scholarship, a partnership between the Council of Lutheran Churches and Mansfield College, Oxford, offered each year to an outstanding scholar who has been forced to migrate from their home and has sought sanctuary in the UK. (You can learn more about the scholarship here.)
Alina’s gratitude punctuates her conversation. ‘I am able to be here due to this scholarship which covers all my tuition fees and living expenses. It’s very inspiring to study [at Oxford]; you’re observing and getting knowledge from the best legal minds, and then you are experiencing eventful student life. It’s a great experience for me.’
The Magister Juris programme offers a particular focus on corporate finance, as well as the legal aspects of taxation for multinational corporations. Combining this with her special interest and prior education in renewable energy development (beginning with her studies in Lithuania), Alina has long-term aspirations to being part of the post-war rebuilding of her native Ukraine, once conflict in that country ceases.
The full interview with this year’s CLC/Mansfield Sanctuary Scholar will be available on our upcoming podcast, Lutherans in the UK–Living Grace. (Link will be included once the episode is live.)
The January 2025 issue of our monthly newsletter is available here. Highlights include coverage of the Norwegian Church’s celebration weekend for their new ministry centre’s opening, and Rev. Rebecca Daniel’s new role as the CLC’s head of development, in addition to her work with the student chaplaincy.
‘Here we are—Lutherans in the middle of the City, having Christmas for LGBT+ people.’
Rev. Maris Sants, LCiGB pastor of the Nordic Church in Liverpool, in one simple sentence summarises the joy of so many who attended the queer carol service at St. Mary-at-Hill Church on 12 December. The event was jointly hosted by the CLC and St. Anne’s Lutheran Church, and accompanied by the rich ensemble singing of Solomon’s Knot.
The service combined scripture readings, traditional carols and selected poems to celebrate the good news of the Christ child’s birth. Further, the music and words proclaimed a God who loves and welcomes all people and condemns no one for who they are or whom they love.
Blessed are the worshipers, praying from closets, pulpits, pews, and hardship.
—from ‘Blessed are the Queer’ by Helen HP Rivers
Theological student Tym Novak appreciated being a participant in the service. ‘I think as queer people, we’re not really represented or acknowledged in the churches,’ he expressed. ‘I had a conversation at my university today…they were talking about how suppressing [queer identity] was probably the best thing to do.’ Novak chose to challenge his fellow students, using this service as his example: ‘I think you’d find that Jesus would be here with us, celebrating life, celebrating us as human beings.’
Celebration was the order of the evening, which continued with a time of fellowship extending for hours after the final notes of ‘Joy to the World’ had faded. Rev. Sants marvelled at the simple fact that the service was taking place at all. ‘Never before in my life did I imagine being in a mainstream church having this kind of celebration. It was also amazing seeing so many people whom I know and whom I have seen in other contexts, who have been out of church—outsiders—and now they are in!’
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —over and over
announcing your place in the family of things.
—from ‘Wild Geese’ by Mary Oliver
Join us for a Queer Carol Service on Thursday, 12th December at 6pm at St Mary-at-Hill Church, Lovat Lane, London EC3R 8EE. This special service will include a sermon by Pastor Maris Sants, music by the baroque collective Solomon’s Knot, and will be led by Pastor Meelis Süld and Pastor Sarah Farrow. Members of LGBTQ+ Christian groups and allies will come together for an evening of celebration, reflection, and community. Organised by St Anne’s Lutheran Church and the CLC Lutheran Inclusive Group, this event warmly welcomes everyone.
The Council of Lutheran Churches (CLC) notes with sadness and concern the historic, heinous decades-long abuse that led to the resignation of Archbishop Justin Welby on Tuesday, as he took personal and institutional responsibility for failures in handling the case. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of abuse. It is unimaginable that such evil could happen in a church-related setting, where we are called to care for each other and to protect the marginalised and vulnerable in particular.
The CLC is committed to safeguarding and building a safe space for all. This work is one where churches can collaborate, and the issue was prioritised at Churches Together in England’s Enabling Group in March 2024. We appreciate the comprehensive safeguarding trainings organised by the Church of England, which have been made available to CLC member churches. However, much more could be done to ensure that theory is put into practice in all churches, fostering openness and transparency.
The CLC, with its nine member churches, is a close partner of the Church of England, and we hold in our prayers all those affected by the resignation, including Archbishop Welby’s family. We ask for wisdom in selecting the new Primate of All England and spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. We also acknowledge Archbishop Welby’s ecumenical openness, including his prioritisation of the Porvoo Agreement, his courage in speaking up for migrant communities—especially in opposing the Rwanda scheme—and his efforts to make the Church of England a more inclusive church.
On October 31, Lutherans around the world commemorate the anniversary of the Reformation. To mark this occasion, the Council of Lutheran Churches in Great Britain is organising a Reformation Day service with Eucharist on the 31st of October at 6pm. We invite all CLC Member Churches to join us in prayer and reflection on the significance of the Reformation in today’s world. The service will take place in London, at St George’s Lutheran Church, 55 Alie Street, London, E1 8EB. Light refreshments will be available.
The CLC’s safeguarding advisor Simon Bass from Church Safeguarding Consultancy will offer one session of in-depth safeguarding training this autumn. The training is for church leaders and those working with children, young people and adults and we can focus on the specific situation of the Lutheran churches.
The date is: Thursday, 7th November, 6pm on Zoom.
The session will cover the following content: understanding abuse and its signs and symptoms, how to respond well to concerns and disclosures of abuse, best practice when working with children and adults at risk of harm.
There will be discussions in the plenary and work in break out groups.
The link to register your attendance on Eventbrite is below:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2024-advanced-safeguarding-training-online-tickets-1028809315357?aff=oddtdtcreator
From 10th-14th October, CLC is organising a trip to Wittenberg and the surrounding historic sites of the Reformation under the guidance of the local tour operator Christian Tours Europe.
Download the brochure: Brochure Lutherland
Cost
The registration is extended, the fee is 750 Euros per person in a double room or 850 Euros in a single room. For those who are unable to afford the costs of the trip, CLC can subsidise the fee by £400 for members of one of our nine member churches or regular participants in the ILSC.
More information and registration meelis.sueld[at]lutheran.org.uk.
The trip will include:
