Christian Identity in Crisis

The Legacy of Wilhelm Loehe as Inspiration for the Church Today

Abstract

This is the second of two issues of Currents in Theology and Mission devoted to the papers presented at the 5th Conference of the International Loehe Society, July 2022, under the theme “Christian Identity in Crisis: The Legacy of Wilhelm Loehe as Inspiration for the Church Today.” The responses of this nineteenth-century German Lutheran pastor to the crises of his own time were both theologically informed and regularly embodied in the communal practices of spiritual care and formation, liturgy, diakonia, and mission. This kind of responsive posture—one that holds together the claims and practices at the heart of Christian identity and genuine engagement with present need for personal and social healing—remains relevant for the church today.