EKD Press Releases

"Experiencing Protestantism"

Near-Eastern delegation visits Reformation sites

April 16, 2012

The Evangelical Church in Germany wishes to take a new path in the Christian-Muslim dialogue. For one week, a group of Muslim and Christian personalties from the Near and Middle East - from Egypt, Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey - accompanied by Christian and Muslim guides from Germany (headed by Bishop Schindehütte) will be accompanied on visits to places deeply marked by Protestantism and to Reformation sites. They will travel to Nuremberg, Dresden, Halle/Saale and Wittenberg, and finally to Berlin.

At each of these locations, specific themes will be addressed on the basis of concrete examples and in discussions with specialists, for instance: in Nuremberg and Erlangen, the Protestant identity of a town, human rights, interreligious dialogue and religion in the media; in Dresden, the question of reconciliation; in Halle/Saale, the relationship between Protestantism and music, as well Christian diaconia. In Wittenberg, Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon will hold center stage, and in Berlin, the relationship between Protestantism and science and democracy will be discussed, among other things.

At each stopping place of the tour, which is being organized in collaboration with the EKD Church Office and the Protestant Academy of Berlin, in addition to conversations with ecclesial and political personalities, considerable space has been set aside for jointly analyzing the parties' respective impressions in view of the Christian-Muslim dialogue. In light of the Arab Spring in particular, a joint examination of the tradition of the Reformation and the revolutionary changes of that time can generate to new insights and give renewed impetus.

Hanover, April 16, 2012

Press Office of the EKD#Reinhard Mawick