Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference

 

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)

Africa Regional CELC Conference 2023

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The Lutheran Church of Central Africa Zambia Synod (LCCA-Z) will host the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference Africa Region. The conference is set for January 9-13, 2023 at the Lutheran Seminary in Lusaka, Zambia. Multi-national essayists will focus their presentations around the theme: The Characteristics of a Healthy Church. These presenters and their topics include:

  • Pastor Mark Onunda (LCMC-Kenya)
    Church Business
  • Pastor Howard Mohlke (OAT-Zambia)
    The Doctrine of the Call
  • Pastor Davison Mutentami (LCCA-Zambia)
    What Training Do We Need for a Healthy Church?
  • Zororai Shoko (LCCA-Zambia, former treasurer)
    The Importance of Financial Transparency in the Church

Representatives of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference from across Africa are planning to attend. Attendees representing CELC member synods in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zambia will be joined by a variety of guests. These include observers from the Obadiah Lutheran Synod of Uganda and missionaries of the One Africa Team. Also visiting this conference are synod world mission liaisons from the USA: Tom Heyn (ELS), Larry Schlomer (WELS), and Mark Schulz (CELC and WELS Board for World Missions).

Submitted by Pastor Davison Mutentami,
President of the Lutheran Church of Central Africa-Zambia Synod

Chapel on the campus of the Lutheran Seminary, Lusaka, Zambia

The Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference

The Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference is a worldwide fellowship of Lutheran church bodies, committed to the teachings of the Lutheran Church found in the Book of Concord of 1580. Established in 1993 with thirteen churches, the CELC has grown by God’s grace to include thirty-four church bodies today.

Every three years, representatives from CELC churches gather for fellowship and theological study at an international convention. Regional meetings are held in alternate years. These gatherings provide spiritual encouragement for confessional Lutherans who often find themselves quite isolated. Visitors are always welcome at these gatherings

Joint work of the CELC includes the writing of The Eternal Word: A Lutheran Confession for the Twenty-First Century, which testifies to the unity of doctrine enjoyed by CELC churches. The CELC also has a commission to help coordinate and improve theological training in CELC churches.

Speaking about the heart and core of the CELC, former President Gaylin Schmeling wrote:  “The CELC stands ready to give answer to the confident hope of salvation in Christ that is within us. It is a refuge for those seeking confessional homes and a beacon shining the light of the Gospel in a sin-darkened world. Here the central truth of the Reformation, justification by faith alone, continues to be proclaimed. We are declared righteous by nothing we do or accomplish, but alone on the basis of Christ’s redemptive work which is counted as ours through faith in the Savior. He accomplished salvation for all on the cross and announced it to all by His resurrection, declaring the whole world righteous in Christ. This treasure is brought to us personally through the means of grace and is received by faith alone in the Savior which is worked through those very means of grace.”

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