The Lutheran World Federation – A Communion of Churches

Lutheran-Orthodox Commission Explores Understanding of Ministry/Priesthood

Maximilian Haas — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 12:31:46 +0000

Archbishop Gregorios Underlines Long – Standing Theological Conversations

LONDON, United Kingdom/GENEVA, 4 June 2012 (LWI) – A preparatory meeting for the 16^th session of the Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission identified areas of agreement and a considerable number of open questions and differences between the two traditions on their understanding of ministry/priesthood in the Church.

Meeting in London 5-10 May, representatives from The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Ecumenical Patriarchate began a new phase in the commission’s work by exploring the topic “The Understanding of Ministry/Priesthood in the light of the Holy Scriptures and the early Church,” which had been agreed at their 2011 meeting.

Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain offered a warm welcome to the participants in London, bestowing upon them the blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

In his address the archbishop noted that the dialogue between the two traditions dated back to the theological conversations between the Lutheran theologians of Tübingen and the Ecumenical Patriarchate in the 16th century.

Archbishop Gregorios emphasized that the dialogue between Lutherans and Orthodox is the oldest discourse between Protestant churches and the Orthodox and expressed his wishes for its continuation.

The next preparatory meeting, 24-29 May 2013, will examine Lutheran understanding of ministry/priesthood during the period of the Reformation and apostolic succession, and ordination from a historical, patristic and canonical point of view. The event will be hosted by the LWF. (237 words)

2012 London Communiqué Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission

Lutheran Churches in Mekong Identify Gender Justice as Priority

Maximilian Haas — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:59:37 +0000

Pledge to Work Collectively to Be More Effective in Mission

YANGON, Myanmar/GENEVA, 1 June 2012 (LWI) – Representatives from Lutheran churches in Asia’s Mekong region have underlined gender justice and women’s ordination as priorities, following an appeal to address the growing inequalities in the participation and leadership of women among churches there.

Addressing the Mekong Mission Forum (MMF) and Partners’ Consultation held 16-20 May at Yangon, Myanmar, Myanmar theologian Dr Anna May Say Pa called for the rejection of “religious and cultural norms and practice that denigrate and marginalize people because of race, sex, age, class among others” and pressed for empowerment and opportunities for the marginalized, including the indigenous.

She appealed for leadership models that are based on the servanthood of Jesus rather than on power and exclusion.

Pa, former principal of the Myanmar Institute of Theology, urged the 60 delegates from The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches in the Mekong region, mission agencies and consultants to take up an ecumenical approach to leadership that would transform and empower the church.

Discussion focused on transformation, empowerment and reconciliation within the diaconal life of the churches and they were urged to work collectively and ecumenically to be more effective in their mission in society and to emphasize the “priesthood of all believers” as they engage in the world.

The MMF consultation rejected “top-down” and “giver-receiver” mission models, calling for the equipping of people for self-sustenance and independence. There were also pleas for reconciliation where conflict exists within or among churches and in society at large.

Participants proposed greater emphasis on capacity building in holistic mission, especially in diakonia and proclamation, and emergency preparedness, and engagement in disaster response. They noted the continuing need for training and empowerment, advancement in theological education and information sharing and cooperation among MMF members.

Greater awareness and ownership of diakonia in the churches also were needed, the representatives indicated.

MMF moderator, Rev. Dr Traugott Farnbacher, secretary for Papua New Guinea, Pacific and East Asia for Mission OneWorld, expressed hope that the meeting would help enhance future engagement among MMF members.

LWF Asia secretary Rev. Dr William Chang emphasized the urgency of empowering Lutheran churches in the region to engage in holistic mission, especially proclamation, and a holistic response in particular to the needs of marginalized people, citing emergency preparedness in areas that are prone to storms, flooding or drought, among other disasters.

The MMF is comprised of churches in Cambodia, Hong Kong, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and partners from Australia, Europe and the United States of America. It meets annually to facilitate cooperation, with the LWF Asia Desk serving in a coordinating role. (450 words)

Europe’s Lutherans Pledge Support for Diaconal Services despite Diminishing Resources

Maximilian Haas — Wed, 30 May 2012 14:10:31 +0000

Message from Regional Church Leadership Consultation

30 May 2012

Europe’s Lutheran leaders pledged to continue to advocate on behalf of their local and global neighbors, even as they cautioned about a growing demand for diaconal services on the continent amid diminishing resources.

In the final message of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) European Church Leadership Consultation held in Ostrava, Czech Republic, 10-15 May, the 80 leaders from 38 churches noted that despite a strong tradition of churches providing social services (diakonia), the work faces serious challenges.

“Increasing indebtedness, rising unemployment rates especially among the young, and diminished communal resources have caused an increased demand in social and diaconal services,” the leaders said in their message titled: “With Passion for the Church and for the World.”

“Although Europe may appear to be one unified, social political and economic region, there are emerging economic gaps between rich and poor and especially among migrant workers and marginalized populations,” they noted.

Lack of funding had compelled churches to re-examine their reliance on professional service workers and rely on volunteers, the Lutheran leaders noted at their meeting jointly hosted by the Evangelical Church of the Czech Brethren and the Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession.

They however reiterated that the biblical and theological focus of human beings as being made in the image of God (Imago Dei) challenges them to examine their diaconal work from a renewed perspective.

In discussions, participants shared the richness of diaconal efforts that churches around Europe are undertaking: a congregation in Amsterdam (Netherlands) opens its doors to neighbors for community and friendship; in Baden-Baden (Germany) and Budapest (Hungary) church artisans sell their works to raise money so the poor can buy medicine and food. Other examples were cited from Riga (Latvia), where a diaconal program provides 2,000 meals a week; in Rome (Italy) churches are open to the poor; in France church members volunteer in state-run charities; and in Sweden church doors are opened to the unemployed.

“We believe that diakonia within the LWF European regions should include the active role of coordinated advocacy on behalf of the neighbor around the world,” said the church leaders representing the Central Western, Central Eastern and Nordic regions of Europe.

The three regions agreed to strengthen their level of cooperation by organizing annual pan-European gatherings on themes relevant both to the European context and the global communion of Lutheran churches.

(Miriam Paszova from the Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession contributed to this story.)

Message from the European Church Leadership Consultation 2012 | Re-forming Community Diakonia in Europe

Cardinal Koch Visits the LWF on Mount of Olives

Stéphane Gallay — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:28:20 +0000

LWF President Bishop Younan Gives Thanks for Common Work with Roman Catholics

JERUSALEM/GENEVA, 25 May 2012 – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) President Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan thanked Kurt Cardinal Koch for the common work between Lutherans and Roman Catholics, when the Vatican official visited the LWF offices on the Mount of Olives, East Jerusalem.

During the 24 May meeting with Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), Younan said the 45 years of bilateral discussions between the LWF and the PCPCU had resulted in productive dialogue “in our continued search for Christian unity.”

The LWF president urged that in the time ahead, both partners “jointly lift up what we have achieved together in our patient, hard and hopeful work, and point together gratefully to all the agreements we have reached.”

On the commemoration of the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, Younan underlined three essential dimensions for the planning, saying, “We believe the commemoration must be global and ecumenical, and must be commemorated in a spirit of repentance, not because we regret the Reformation, rather because mistakes were made on both sides.”

The LWF president also reiterated his hope that the common statement “From Conflict to Communion” would soon be completed by the bilateral dialogue commission, and that a shared understanding of the Reformation might be reached in the processing of “Harvesting the Fruits,” as proposed by the PCPCU.

Younan, who is head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), noted that Lutherans and Roman Catholics share a vision for just peace in the Middle East, supporting a two-state solution with a shared Jerusalem. He emphasized the importance today of common witness in the Holy Land and throughout the Church of Christ.

Through its congregational and educational ministries, the LWF member church ELCJHL reaches out to thousands of individuals and families each year in Jerusalem, other parts of the West Bank and Amman, Jordan.

Services provided by the LWF through its Department for World Service in East Jerusalem include the Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH), a health facility offering emergency and specialized care in the Occupied Territories, to all patients regardless of race, gender, religion, nationality, ethnic origin or political persuasion. The AVH particularly gives Palestinians access to pediatric dialysis and cancer treatment. (392 words)

(By Rev. Elizabeth McHan, ELCJHL communication assistant)

Geneva Church Seeks Interim Pastor from within Communion

Terri_Editor — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:49:57 +0000

The English Speaking Congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Geneva, Switzerland, invites applications from ordained ministers in LWF member churches for the position of interim pastor for a period of one year starting from November 2012.

The Congregation wishes that the Interim Pastor:

accompanies its members during the period of transition between the departure of the present pastor, Rev. Lusmarina Campos Garcia who completes her nine-year long ministry in September 2012, and the arrival of a new pastor in late 2013
assists the congregation to go through a process of reflection about its identity, purpose and pastoral requirements as a multi-denominational, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic church community
performs regular pastoral duties

Lutheran pastors with experience in serving multi-cultural and/or international contexts and who are willing to assist our congregation with the ministerial functions as mentioned above, may send applications along with a letter of motivation and a brief CV to the Search Committee. Closing date for applications is 15 June 2012.

Search Committee | Evangelical Lutheran Church of Geneva

Latin America and Caribbean Lutheran Leaders Pledge Sustainable Life for All

Maximilian Haas — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:57:15 +0000

Churches Urged to Join in Reformation 2017 Celebrations

25 May 2012

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches in Latin America and the Caribbean affirmed that their continuing commitment to environmental justice is integral to the Lutheran identity.

At the 23-27 April regional Church Leadership Conference (COL) in Florianopolis, Brazil, under the theme “Rereading our Common and Unique Lutheran Identity in Latin America and the Caribbean,” they pledged to work ecumenically and with civil society.

“Together with our sisters and brothers living in vulnerable conditions and suffering the effects of climate change, we propose alternatives to advocate and support models that build sustainable life for everyone,” they said in a final message.

Affirming the participation of all church members in the leadership of the church, they highlighted the “long journey and ministry of women in the region” and embraced the task of working for the inclusion of young people in decision making.

The COL leaders committed to stimulating the education of future leaders through opportunities for learning exchanges with a mind to strengthening the Lutheran identity.

They urged church members to join in the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017, exhorting them to “walk as pilgrims,” seeking justice and strengthening the ties of the global communion.

COL moderator, Bishop Eduardo Martinez of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Colombia, which will host the LWF Council meeting in June, said focus on environmental justice was crucial as current development models that sacrifice life and profit the few dramatically affect the region.

On inclusiveness and participation, Martinez emphasized that the involvement of women and youth in decision making at COL is deeply tied to their engagement in the local churches, where there is recognition about their contribution and the different gifts that they bring in the body of Christ.

Mensaje de la Conferencia de Liderazgo 2012

FEATURE: Back Again at the Reception Center

Maximilian Haas — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:56:26 +0000

Overcrowding at Kakuma Camp as Southern Sudanese Seek Safety

KAKUMA, Kenya/GENEVA, 25 May 2012 (LWI) – Violence along the border between Sudan and South Sudan over territorial control and resources, and clashes between communities during cattle raids in the newly independent South are bringing back hundreds of families to a refugee camp in neighboring Kenya, where they lived several years ago.

The growing numbers are putting pressure on already strained services at the Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya, according to humanitarian organizations providing services there, including The Lutheran World Federation (LWF).

Established in 1992 to accommodate 90,000 refugees, it had 96,000 people by 22 May, and the numbers are expected to reach 100,000 by the end of June. The new arrivals are mainly from South Sudan, with more than 1,000 registered per month since February, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) statistics. The relatively high influx from Sudan brings the total number registered from both countries to 34,000 refugees, second only to Somalis who comprise 47,000 people.

The LWF is in discussions with the local authorities and UNHCR about taking part in the establishment of a new camp that is planned to accommodate the increasing numbers.

Seeking Refuge Again

Nob Jakot, 19, is back at the reception center where he was registered for the first time in 2000, then slightly older than six years accompanied by older relatives, and they lived in Kakuma camp until 2002, when they opted to go back home to in search of better opportunities.

Tension over local election results in South Kordofan state, Sudan’s oil-producing region, prompted recent protests that were followed by military attacks on civilians. “[They] raided and shot our people, bombed our homes and farms,” recalls Jakot, who was in primary school in Umsardiba village, which is inhabited by many communities who support South Sudan.

His family members— mother, father and seven other siblings—were at first scattered as they fled for their lives but they reunited later and eventually found their way to a congested camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in South Sudan’s capital Juba. Jakot and his brothers proceeded to Kakuma camp.

Namach Chuol Malual, 26, from Jonglei State in South Sudan, escaped to Kakuma with her three children, two brothers, one sister and a nephew after cattle raiders attacked their village, Akobo, near the southeastern border with Ethiopia.

“We all ran in different directions, including my mother and the other siblings,” she said. But her father and husband were not so lucky: “The attackers shot them dead,” she adds. Her eldest brother has been missing since.

At Akobo trading center, government officials told them that there was no food or shelter available, but military vehicles transported them to a UNHCR transit camp in Jonglei, and then to the IDP camp in Juba. “I decided to join a group of asylum seekers who were organizing public transport to come to Kakuma,” she says.

Others like 32-year-old Rina Mulangari “have not been to Kakuma before and know no one here.” Before the escalation of military attacks on Kualip village in South Kordofan, “I used to farm the fields for my family’s food, and my husband was self-employed,” says the mother of two young children, one born in a nearby village where she and others fleeing villagers had sought refuge. “The military airplanes’ bombing during the daytime was bad for my unborn baby, I would have lost the baby,” she recalls.

Psychological Support

The LWF runs the reception center at Kakuma camp, where new arrivals are registered and provided with basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter and household goods. Female-headed households, unaccompanied minors, one to two-person families and child-headed households are considered to be the most traumatized and thus needing more time to settle down.

Families such as Mulangari’s can stay up to two weeks at the center, which will allow child protection and gender units to conduct a special category assessment, including tracing any residents from her community or distant relatives or neighbors who would be willing to offer the family social support.

Malual, whose family arrived in Kakuma on 20 April, says the reception services were good. “At least I can rest and the children are getting used to the changed climate and surroundings. The people here are welcoming, warm and friendly,” she adds.

Many of the refugees have survived traumatic experiences and require psychological support, says Okello Arweny, the LWF area coordinator for Kakuma.

“Support by professional social workers will make it easy for the majority of refugees to quickly settle down in the camp with fewer incidences of violence, community conflict and delinquency,” he explained. The center can accommodate up to 600 people a day

Services Are Run Down

Through its Department for World Service (DWS) country program in Kenya-Djibouti, the LWF manages some of the services to refugees at Kakuma camp, which for more than two decades was home to mainly Southern Sudanese fleeing the conflict at home. With peace agreements and independence in July 2011, tens of thousands repatriated to South Sudan, where the LWF also supports returnees.

DWS Director Rev. Rev. Eberhard Hitzler, recently visiting the Kakuma camp, expressed deep concern about the upsurge of violence between the neighboring countries. “Last year, we were hoping that after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement [2005] and the creation of the newest nation of South Sudan, Kakuma would soon be empty and that Southern Sudanese refugees would be able to go home,” he noted.

The camp is now run down and needing funds to rebuild, says Hitzler. “I was deeply embarrassed when we visited a school building in which the LWF provides educational services. There were classrooms without books, old desks and chairs for half a dozen students while the classroom fills up with hundreds of students.”

“It is a miracle that teachers and students can still perform under such circumstances. But it is a shame that neither UNHCR nor LWF is able to find funds to improve these conditions,” adds the head of the LWF humanitarian arm, which provides services to refugees and other marginalized people in more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

Sign of Hope

Some additional help arrived recently at Kakuma’s reception center. Through an appeal of the global emergency network ACT Alliance, of which the LWF is a founding member, USD 58,000 was donated to expand the kitchen facilities, pay additional staff and install water tanks and children’s play equipment.

Despite the difficult situation at Kakuma, Hitzler says he is heartened by the fact that students from 13 nations are learning to live peacefully together and to understand each other in the camp.

“It is for me a sign of hope for peace and reconciliation in Africa. […] I pray that the people who now live in Kakuma will soon leave the camp and spread all over the African continent and beyond their experience of a peaceful co-existence of various cultural, ethnic, religious, national and political backgrounds.” (1,177 words)

(Written for LWI by Rose Karimi, LWF gender equity and human rights officer at Kakuma camp)

Eco-justice Virtual Conference

Terri_Editor — Tue, 22 May 2012 09:25:11 +0000

The LWF virtual conference “green&just” on 12 May 2012 looked to get people from LWF member churches and the wider ecumenical family talking about poverty eradication and ecological justice.

Greeting | Rev. Martin Junge, LWF General Secretary

Keynote Address | Dr Kumi Naidoo

Keynote Address | Esther Hinostroza

Bible Study – Exodus | Dr Monica J. Melanchthon

Bible Study – Water | Rev. Dr Barbara Rossing

Lutheran World Information (LWI) 03/2012

Stéphane Gallay — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:55:36 +0000

Read news and feature stories on the life and work of the communion and its member churches in Lutheran World Information (LWI), the LWF information service.

In this issue:

Mexican Lutheran Church Celebrates Female Leaders
Seeking Churches’ Commitment for People on the Move
LWF Equal Salary Certification Affirms Commitment to Gender Justice
LWF Hosts Virtual Conference on Ecological Justice
One in Six
Rural Women in Bangladesh Shine Light on PovertyNepali Women Embrace Opportunity to Change Society
Lutheran Dalit Feminist Pastor Challenges Patriarchal Systems
LWF Pays Tribute to Pope Shenouda’s Commitment to Interfaith Dialogue

LWI 03/2012 is available in English and German.

EN Low Resolution (1 MB) | EN print quality (4.6 MB) | DE low resolution (1.2 MB) | DE print quality (4.6 MB)

Stay on top of LWF happenings: Subscribe to LWI by email

LWF Virtual Conference Prompts Enthusiastic Interest in Ecological Justice

Stéphane Gallay — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:29:48 +0000

Hundreds of Lutherans Across the Globe Gather Online for green&just

GENEVA, 18 May 2012 (LWI) – An initial poll of some of the 400 people who took part in The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) first virtual conference on the church’s role in environmental justice say the event prompted their greater involvement in ecological justice issues.

Most of the participants surveyed for the 12 May “green&just” virtual conference—who logged on from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America—stayed online for more than three hours. In the preliminary survey of a smaller group, more than two-thirds of the respondents said they were likely or would definitely become actively engaged in issues on ecological justice.

The 17 presentations including speeches and web-based workshops (webinars) were met with high interest by participants, with lively online discussions after the speeches and during the workshops, said Rev. Roger Schmidt, LWF Youth secretary, organizer of “green&just.”

Speakers and participants at “green&just” called for marshalling of church and community resources to address the environmental, economic and development crises.

In a video address, LWF General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge pointed to a distorted view of freedom that has led to overconsumption in some parts of the world, which has meant that billions of people elsewhere, who rely on nature for their sustenance, starve.

“In the era of climate change, the old theological formula according to which sin is a person’s withdrawal into oneself, severing relationships, takes on a new dynamic. Our existence repeatedly threatens to withdraw into itself,” Junge said.

“Climate change and the catastrophic consequences thereof are a direct result of an extension of freedom accompanied by increased disregard for the relationships that are integral to humanity,” the general secretary said.

In his keynote address Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International, criticized the “business as usual approach” to getting the world aligned and moving toward a clean green energy direction. He described climate change as an urgent cross-cutting issue “that threatens the very fundamental existence of human life on this planet” and stressed the need to broaden the base of those engaged in order to move the issue forward.

Noting the specific role of religious leaders in major historic struggles across the world including the civil rights movement and apartheid, Naidoo praised the LWF “for taking the kind of leadership you are through this conference—taking environment and justice, development and climate change; and bringing them together—and asking what can we do as a faith community?”

Peruvian activist Esther Hinostroza spoke about the struggle of women in mining areas battling both environmental degradation and poverty. Lutheran theologians Rev. Dr Monica Jyotsna Melanchton of Gurukul Theological Seminary in Chennai, India, and Rev. Dr Barbara Rossing from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, USA explored biblical texts and their challenges for ecological justice.

Participants of the virtual conference gave enthusiastic feed-back.

Rev. Dr Anja Stuckenberger of Reading, Pennsylvania, a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, who participated in some of the webinars, considered the conference an energizing space and praised the opportunity to listen to presentations from all over the world and converse with people from different perspectives.

Rev. Sonja Skupch, general secretary of the Evangelical Church of the River Plate, Argentina said: “It is encouraging to know that there are more people fighting for justice than those who benefit from excessive greed.”

Moti Daba Fufa, a youth leader in his congregation of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, praised the use of social media in grappling with environmental justice. “We met each other from different countries and got to raise issues from our different angles.”

Eighty percent of the poll respondents came from Lutheran churches, including pastors, youth and women leaders. “The conference provided an important learning platform about the different ways in which we can encourage our church members at the grass roots to engage theologically on critical issues such as climate change and economic justice,” Schmidt added. (669 words)

“green&just” Conference Site