Wittenberg Runners Raise Attention to Martin Luther in Midwest Run

CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Thirty-one runners from Wittenberg, Germany, are bringing attention to Martin Luther and his impact on today's society by participating in a 680-mile run June 24 to July 2 from Wittenberg, Wis., to Springfield, Ohio, a sister city to Wittenberg, Germany.
Another reason for the run is Springfield's celebration of its 200th anniversary this year, said Ulrich Pfingsten, cultural minister of Wittenberg, Germany, during a stopover June 28 here at the Lutheran Center, the churchwide offices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
A large group from Wittenberg, Germany, will meet the runners when they arrive in Springfield July 2, during a summer festival there, he said. Springfield is home to Wittenberg University, one of 28 ELCA colleges and universities.
The runners are also using their visit to the United States to encourage people to visit Wittenberg, Germany, Pfingsten said.
Luther was a 16th century German theologian who set out to reform the Catholic Church, but his efforts resulted in the Protestant Reformation. The ELCA, one of several church bodies that bear his name, recently established the Wittenberg Center, a continuing education center in Germany that promotes learning and research for ELCA members and seminary scholars, and that works to build relationships with churches and related agencies in Germany.
Participants in the run -- known as "Botenlaufer Wittenberg" -- are citizens of Wittenberg, Germany, who have an interest in making Luther's legacy known to others, Pfingsten said. They are running in small groups on a route that takes them through Appleton, Wis., Milwaukee, Chicago, and Huntington, Ind. There are 25 people traveling with the runners to provide support services, Pfingsten said.
Similar groups of runners from Wittenberg have traced trips Luther made during his lifetime, including a 1,700-kilometer run from Wittenberg to Rome in 1993, he said. Other runs tracing Luther's footsteps were made in Germany in 1996 and 1997, Pfingsten said.
"This is the first time we have been in the United States," he said. "The idea was that since our sister city, Springfield, Ohio, was celebrating its bicentennial, that we would start in Wittenberg, Wis., and go to Springfield."
Along the way, the group has visited ELCA congregations and stayed with host families, he said. They were hosted at a reception by John O. Norquist, mayor of Milwaukee.
"We've learned about the real heart of the United States by running and staying with host families," Pfingsten said. "We are trying to bring people together."
In 2002, Martin Luther University in Wittenberg will celebrate its 500th anniversary, Pfingsten said.
During their visit to the Lutheran Center, the group presented gifts from Wittenberg, including books, publications and German food. Accepting the gifts on behalf of the ELCA were the Rev. Lowell G. Almen, ELCA secretary, and the Rev. Bonnie L. Jensen, executive director, ELCA Division for Global Mission. --
Information about the ELCA Wittenberg Center is at http://www.elca.org/ewbc/ on the ELCA's Web site.

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