The International Loehe Society will meet on the Wartburg College campus on Tuesday, July 26, and the public is invited to attend.

The day will begin with coffee at 9:30 a.m. in the Castle Room in Saemann Student Center. Presentations will start at 10 a.m. with “The Relationship of the Functional and Ontological in Wilhelm Loehe’s Theology and Practice of the Pastoral Office” by Steven Pietsch, lecturer in pastoral theology and director of pastoral formation at Australian Lutheran College in Adelaide and chairman of the Commission for Theology and Inter-Church Relations for the Lutheran Church of Australia.

Terry Lindell, a Wartburg history professor, will offer historical context to a guided tour of Waverly and the college beginning at 11:15 a.m. After lunch, participants will visit St. Paul’s Lutheran Church for a brief historical discussion with Pastor Mark Anderson.

“As we live into the ubuntu philosophy, this event reminds us that Wartburg College exists because of Wilhelm Loehe’s tradition of faith and service. These roots shape our Lutheran commitment to inclusion and being a community open to the needs of all,” said Caryn Riswold, Wartburg’s Mike and Marge McCoy Family Distinguished Chair in Lutheran Heritage and Mission.

Loehe was a pastor of the village church in Neuendettelsau and played a significant role in the college’s history as well as the history of Lutheranism in the Cedar Valley.

The events in Waverly, which were made possible by funding from the Mike and Marge McCoy Family Distinguished Chair in Lutheran Heritage and Mission, are part of the fifth annual Conference of the International Loehe Society, which runs July 24-27. Those interested in this free Waverly event should email Riswold at caryn.riswold@wartburg.edu.