ILC Seminaries Conference in South Africa

(Credit: ilcouncil.org)

Overview

The International Lutheran Council (ILC) holds a conference for the seminaries of its members every three years. This year the conference was held in the last week of June 2026 in South Africa, at a working farm and conference centre on the outskirts of Pretoria. Its theme was ‘Being Human, Being Christian: Theological Anthropology in Church and Seminary.’

One of the buildings at Silverlakes Farm Hotel.

Representatives came from every continent except Antarctica, reflecting the multicultural makeup of the ILC. Of the approximately 60 attendees, the largest contingent came from Africa, with the next-largest group being from Latin America, reminding us that most Christians (and Lutherans) are in the ‘Global South’.

Conference photo (credit: Mathew Block)

‍ Summary of program

‍Sunday and Monday were gathering days, as representatives flew in from their respective countries. This gave us the opportunity to recover from our travel, catch up with old friends and start to make new ones.

Tuesday to Thursday were conference days. Each day started with a preaching service (Matins) in the chapel and concluded with Vespers. The daily ‘business’ consisted of a mixture of theological presentations followed by group discussions, as well as other presentations from the ILC and its supporters such as Concordia Publishing House and Lutheran Bible Translators.

Interspersed throughout the other sessions were formal and informal meetings, including the gathering of representatives into their various regions to discuss how their seminaries can support each other. Meals provided further opportunity for representatives to get to know one other and their diverse ministry contexts.

Friday was set aside for a cultural excursion into Johannesburg (including the Apartheid Museum), where we learned about the segregation of South Africans based on skin colour in the mid-to-late 20th Century, before returning home on Friday or Saturday.

Entrance to the Apartheid Museum showing how people were even forced to used different entries/exits.

If you would like more details on the programme, please see the news articles published regularly during the conference: https://ilcouncil.org/tag/2026-world-seminaries-conference/

‍General impressions

‍The strongest impression the conference made on me was that this is how the church is meant to be: people of every nation and language united by a common confession that Jesus Christ is Lord. Despite coming from very different contexts, we have many similarities, sharing both joys and challenges in preparing pastors and laypeople to share the Gospel with a broken world.

Through hearing the stories of our Lutheran brothers and sisters I can see that God has richly blessed LM-A, both as a church and in the area of theological education. While we are by no means the largest member of the ILC we are, despite our relative youth, not one of the smallest either. What is more, we are comparatively well-resourced with both skilled and educated people, and in material resources.

By comparison, many of our fellow ILC churches/seminaries are struggling, and so I encourage you to pray for them. Some of the challenges they experience include:

• struggling to have their seminaries or courses accredited (i.e. having their courses/degrees recognised by bodies other than their own church), either because they lack the requisite expertise or because their government makes it difficult for them. In a survey of the representatives, only 36% currently have institutional accreditation

• lacking theological education resources in their native language(s)

• ‍lacking funding

• experiencing internal strife, which prevents or restricts their capabilities to teach

• struggling to find qualified faculty.

The fellowship I experienced at the conference provided a stark contrast to the division along the lines of race that South Africa experienced during Apartheid. One of the South African presenters provided a helpful theological reflection on this when he shared insights from his doctoral thesis studying how Lutherans justified (or resisted) Apartheid. It was a helpful reminder to us all of what happens when we stop seeing others as people made in the image of God. While, as Lutherans, we recognise that God works through worldly governments as well, the church is never to blindly follow secular policies. Rather, it is to always evaluate them against God’s Word and bow only to His will, not ‘Caesar’s’.

Future opportunities

I was encouraged to find many representatives at the conference interested in LM-A in general, and the development of LTS-A in particular. We received a number of offers of help with teaching materials, which LTS-A may take advantage of in the lead-up to teaching next year. I also received a number of suggestions for people who might be interested in serving us as Academic Dean while the Seminary is established.

With representatives from Asia, presenting our discussions to the wider group. (Credit: ilcouncil.org)

The conference was also a good opportunity to (re)connect with theological educators in the Asia Pacific (from Korea, Taiwan, India, the Philippines and Australia), to discuss how we can support each other. As a result of our meeting, we plan to get together more regularly online between physical meetings. We will also look at collaborating on developing theological resources that we can share between our various seminaries.

Finally, my thanks go to LM-A/LTS-A for releasing me to attend the conference, and to the ILC for arranging and funding flights and accommodation. If you have any questions about the conference, you are very welcome to contact me at: MichaelPrenzler@lutheranmissionaustralia.org.au

Pr Michael Prenzler
Interim Principal – LTS-A