Lutheran Hymns and Rites 2024 was initiated by Dr. Uwe Steinmetz in the beginning of 2019 as a five-year study project about Lutheran heritage and identity in an international context at the Liturgical Institute of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD). His initiative was generously supported by the DNK/LWB (Deutsches Nationalkomittee des Lutherischen Weltbundes) and became integrated into the Lutheran Identities Study Process of the Lutheran World Federation.
Dr. phil. Uwe Steinmetz studied saxophone and music theory in Berlin, Bern, India and Boston and received his PhD from the University of Gothenburg on the religious musical language of jazz. He works as a composer, saxophonist and lecturer beyond the European perimeter and received national and international awards for his artistic work. Since 2015 he has been a part-time staff member for music and worship at the Liturgiewissenschaftiches Institut der VELKD at the University of Leipzig. www,uwesteinmetz.net
Project Steps
2019 Initiation and Integration into the Lutheran Identities Study Process of the Lutheran World Federation, presentation at the consultation on the theme, “We Believe in the Holy Spirit: global perspectives on Lutheran identity,” hosted by the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) in Addis Ababa in October 2019.
2020 - 2021 Conceptual refinement in light of the global pandemic situation and the first results of the Lutheran Identities Studiy Process. Development of a new thematic focus for the content of the publication, hosting of an experimental liturgical concert series at the American Church Berlin in the summer of 2020 (ELCA): On Freedom 2020.
Studies on Luther´s musical and hymnological heritage and on the core element of transformational liturgies in different historical and cultural contexts. A German introduction into the study has been published in: Kerygma und Dogma, Zeitschrift für Theologische Forschung und Kirchliche Lehre, Jg. 67, Heft 4 (2021), Paderborn: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht/Brill.
2022 Presentation of exemplary hymns and rites from the study process at the Wartburg for the celebration of the 75th anniversary of DNK/LW on October 7th. Interdisciplinary Conference on faith and spirituality within music within global Lutheranism (Glaube in der Musik) at the Unviersity of Leipzig from 24th-27th of November (Hybrid-Format).
2023 Presentation of exemplary hymns and rites from the study process as part of the worship celebrations at the Global Assembly of the LWF in Krakow, September 13-19.
2024 Presentation of the publication at venues commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Achtliederbuch, including an international festival weekend "Pilgrimage, Freedom and Belonging 2024".