Lindisfarne Ordinands off to Germany!

As part of our link with the Lutheran Seminary at Ratzeburg, ordinands will travel to Germany for Lindisfarne’s first Summer School in June.

In preparation for this visit, Cathy Rowling, Principal and Richard Bryant, Director of Studies, made a trip out to Ratzeburg earlier in the year.  Cathy says, “We are really excited to be able to build on our initial contacts with the seminary at Ratzeburg. We were very warmly welcomed on our visit there and our Summer School will provide an excellent opportunity for a great deal of mutual learning and growth in understanding. Ratzeburg is a stunning historic island city with a beautiful cathedral. It provides a wonderful setting for this year’s Summer School and we are very grateful to Herr Philipps and his colleagues who have generously offered to host us in their guest house.”

Whilst there our students will engage in a variety of seminars, field-work experience and conversation with practitioners, as well as worshipping and socialising with the seminary staff and students. They will explore with Lutheran Pastors-in-training the nature of the ministries to which our respective churches have called us. As part of the visit we will spend two nights in Hamburg where we will look at the Lutheran Church’s response to the challenges presented by this major city.

All those training for ordination in the Church of England are required to attend a week long residential school as part of their formational training. This is Lindisfarne’s first ever Summer School and we are very fortunate to have been invited to spend it in Ratzeburg. We hope very much to be able to return the favour in the future by welcoming some Lutheran ordinands to the North East.