Young Adults Needed for Reformation Day Activities in Germany
Global Institute of Theology students
World Communion of Reformed Churches
Want to spend some time in Germany next summer?
Steve Timmermans, executive director of the CRCNA, is encouraging young adults within the Christian Reformed Church to consider heading to Leipzig, Germany to take part in activities surrounding next year’s commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
The activities are being sponsored by the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) that is holding its 2017 General Council in Leipzig from June 29 to July 7, 2017.
“This would be a wonderful opportunity for a young person to learn more about the Reformed faith and its history,” said Timmermans. “I’d like to see some of our young adults participate. Perhaps the congregations and institutions sending young adults could help assist with the financial costs.”
The General Council, which meets every seven years, is gathering in Germany in 2017 because it is the birthplace of the 16th-Century Reformation.
One opportunity for participation in the 500th celebration is for young adults between the ages of 18 and 30 to serve as stewards from June 22 - July 9 during the General Council. The deadline to apply is Nov. 1.
Stewards perform such tasks as setting up rooms for gatherings, distributing papers, and delivering mail. The WCRC will pay the cost of meals and housing, but not for transportation expenses.
Geared for theology students and recent graduates and newly ordained pastors, the other opportunity is the Global Institute of Theology (GIT), which will be held in Germany in two phases.
Both the GIT and the General Council will have the theme “Living God, renew and transform us.”
“The purpose of the Global Institute of Theology is to give theological students and faculty from all over the world the opportunity to delve deeper into the theological wealth of the theme and to explore its significance to the mission of the church in the world,” says promotional material from the WCRC.
The first phase of the GIT will be from June 3 -27 in Wuppertal, Germany.
The second phase will run from June 28-July 7 in Leipzig in conjunction with the General Council. GIT Students will have a chance to participate in significant ways in events and meetings of the council, which is expected to bring in more than 1,000 church leaders and WCRC members from around the world.
The CRC is a founding member of the WCRC.
