Kirken som offentligt vidnesbyrd

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to give a constructive contribution to the understanding of the public witness of the church from a Lutheran perspective. Firstly, the article describes the missional ecclesiology, as it is expressed in the book Missional Church. Secondly, the article gives a presentation of the German ethicist Bernd Wannenwetsch’ understanding of the church as a public. On this basis, the article develops a constructive contribution to the public dimension of the witness of the church based on a Lutheran ecclesiology. The article concludes that the public dimension of the church as an open, visible, and relational public plays a decisive role for the witness of the church.