PA Council of Churches Marks Centennial with Forum on Anabaptist and Lutheran Reconciliation
LTSG11-20 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Harrisburg, PA (March 1, 2011) The Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches, with the assistance of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, will present a forum to explore “Ecumenism from the Margins” in a special event in Harrisburg, March 17, 2011.
The forum, free and open to the public, will be held March 17, 7 p.m. at Market Square Presbyterian Church, Harrisburg, and will involve two notable church historians.
Exploring the relationship of Lutherans and Anabaptist groups will be noted theologians from both the Anabaptist and Lutheran traditions. Dr. Donald B. Kraybill, Senior Fellow, Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, Elizabethtown College, will speak to the number of plain communities, including Amish, in North America and their contemporary views toward other Christian groups. The Rev. Dr. Maria Erling, professor of Modern Church History and Global Missions at Gettysburg Seminary, will address the apology and act of reconciliation that took place between members of the Lutheran World Federation and the Mennonite World Conference churches last summer in Stuttgart, Germany.
Dr. Gayle Koontz , professor of Theology and Ethics at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Indiana, will address the Mennonites’ contemporary ecumenical engagements, especially with Lutherans and Roman Catholics. The event will be held during a two-day meeting of the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. The commission will be making a trip to Gettysburg Seminary on March 18th as a part of their visit to the Commonwealth.
“The commission accepted the invitation to meet in central Pennsylvania as an act of solidarity with the Pennsylvania Council of Churches in commemoration of its centennial,” said the Rev. Gary Harke, executive director of the council. The Pennsylvania Council of Churches is celebrating its 100th year of ministry during 2011.
For more information, contact the Rev. Gary Harke, Executive Director, PA Council of Churches
g.harke@pachurches.org or call (717) 545-4761