In a powerful symbol of the deep fellowship that binds Reformed and Lutheran traditions, the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) offered an official greeting to the Council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) during its recent meeting in Geneva.

Unlike traditional plenary addresses, this year’s greeting was shared within the framework of the Council’s commission meetings, a setting that Rev. Dr Hanns Lessing, WCRC’s executive secretary for communion and theology, noted allowed for focused and relational engagement. 

The message reflects on the unique “togetherness” that has long defined Lutheran-Reformed relations, pointing to shared commitments to a member-church based identity and a deeply relational ecclesiology. It highlights the WCRC’s own strategic transformation from an ‘Alliance’ to a ‘Communion’ as a parallel journey to the LWF’s ongoing exploration of Lutheran identities. The message lifts up the development of a mutual responsibility framework, a shared discernment process aimed at deepening each communion’s understanding of the other’s confessional identity.

Looking ahead to the 500th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession in 2030, which the LWF will mark during its Fourteenth Assembly, the WCRC welcomed the LWF’s intention to observe the anniversary “in an ecumenical spirit.” The message notes that John Calvin and other 16th-century Reformers continuously referenced the Augsburg Confession in their theology, and expressed hope that the Reformed and Lutheran traditions might once again inspire one another “to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.”

The greeting was warmly received as part of a broader ecumenical tapestry at the Council meeting, which included messages from the Anglican Communion, the Mennonite World Conference, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and the World Council of Churches. Together, these voices affirmed a common conviction: that in a world marked by conflict, injustice, and uncertainty, churches are called to strengthen one another through fellowship and shared faith.

For the WCRC, the moment was not merely a formality, but a living expression of what it means to journey as a communion, rooted in confession, open to relationship, and committed to visible Christian unity.

Read the full statement below.

Photo: LWF/Abin Hillert