The German state of Saxony Anhalt, site of the Lutheran Reformation, is located in the former East Germany, near the capital city of Berlin, a strategic point where east meets west. Historical currents which have shaped Lutheran ministry and mission are rooted in this area. They include:

• The Reformation of the 16th century;
• The rise of Lutheran Orthodoxy;
• The emergence of pietism, spearheaded by August Hermann Francke and the Franckesche Stiftung in Halle;
• The 19th century Union of the Reformed and Lutheran traditions in the lands of the Prussian king;
• The profound tragedy of the Holocaust and the subsequent soul-searching within the German and global church;
• The Confessing Church and the legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer;
• The Marxist challenge and Christian witness in socialist society;
• The Peaceful Revolution of 1989 with its consequent and implications for mission today.

If there is a "common ground" claimed by Lutheran worldwide--south to north, east to west--surely it is this place where diverging and converging forces have shaped the modern world. Here the story is told. Here the church is in mission.

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