Kerstin Wimmer: "There is always something to be reformed"

Photo: Maria LundströmLooks into the future, together with Luther: the second international resident Kerstin Wimmer from Sweden.The second participant in the residents' program of the Evangelical Church in Germany comes from Sweden.
The second International Wittenberg Resident of the Evangelical Church in Germany comes from the diocese of Lund in the south of Sweden. In March 2011, the 61-year-old pastor Kerstin Wimmer has followed the invitation to Wittenberg, in order to participate in different projects of the Luther Decade, to look after international and ecumenical guests, and to promote the Luther Decade both locally and in her home church.

During her stay in Wittenberg, several delegations of the Swedish church plan to come to visit. Bishop Antje Jackelén from the diocese of Lund will hold a sermon in the City Church of Wittenberg on Reformation Day, October 31st. A group of young people from Sweden will participate in the international assembly of confirmation candidates around Reformation Day 2011.

Like all international residents, Kerstin Willmer does research on a theological topic connected with the heritage of the Reformation – in her case, it is a doctoral thesis about Martin Luther and the Psalms. In view of the Reformation anniversary, she does not merely want to celebrate the past, but strives to formulate "new theses" that concern the people today, 500 years after the posting of the original theses in Wittenberg. In an interview with "Glaube + Kirche" (Faith + Church), the church magazine of Central Germany, she said that "there is always something to be reformed", and she emphasised: "in the world and, yes, in the church."