Abstract:
The aim of this article is to study the general and contextual issues related to prayers for the
departed with a focus on the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT). In 2012, the
ELCT published a new hymnal, which included a number of prayers for those mourning
their deceased friends and relatives, as well as prayers for the deceased individuals
themselves. As a result of considerable criticism, this hymnal was replaced by a new edition
in 2017, in which the prayers for the departed were omitted. The article further scrutinises the
historical and theological aspects of praying for the departed in Lutheranism. It studies
examples of prayers for the dead in Lutheran churches in two other countries, Finland and
Sweden, and relates these to the situation in the ELCT.
Description:
This research is part of the
research project, ‘Mission
from the margins: Missiology
and human dignity’, directed
by Prof. Dr Nelus Niemandt,
Department of Science of
Religion and Missiology,
Faculty of Theology,
University of Pretoria.
