Lutherans turn Mt Hagen red as they mark church’s 500th year

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By ELIAS LARI
Lutherans in Western Highlands gathered in Mt Hagen yesterday and celebrated the 500th anniversary of the their reformation.
Hundreds of Lutherans from the 14 circuits in the province celebrated the day with the other Lutherans in the country and throughout the world.
Governor-General Sir Bob Dadae and Lady Hannah and Western Highlands Governor Paias Wingti joined in the celebrations.
Dignitaries from the church who attended the event included overseas church partnership representative and Fierl Seminary senior lecture Rev Knut Crammer, Evangelical Lutheran Church PNG Assistant Bishop Rev Lucas Kedabing and Rev Wesley Kerenga the national chairman of ELC PNG.
Church elders and Christians from the other denominations joined Lutherans in celebrating the anniversary of the reformation when the Lutheran Church broke away from the Catholic faith in 1517.
Rev James Koi, while presenting the history of the church, said that through the reformation people have come to know the truth.
He said that Luther was a brave Catholic priest who decided to break away after he found that many laws created by church elders at that time were not based on God’s word.
Koi said Luther who was born into a wealthy family who operated a copper mine and his parents wanted him to become a lawyer.
“But God’s calling was on Martin Luther and he left school and
became a Catholic priest or a monk,” he said.
He said that when Luther broke away from the Catholic Church and formed his own group the name “Lutheran” was given by people who were against him.
“This was how the reformation came into existence and now we come to know the truth,” he said.