LWF Council Meeting 2005
Jerusalem/Bethlehem, 31 August - 6 September 2005
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Morning Prayer of the LWF Council participants at the Israeli separation wall near Bethlehem. © LWF/D.-M. Grötzsch |
LWF Council Meeting Was a Sign of Solidarity with Christians in the Holy Land
The President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Bishop Mark S. Hanson, said the 2005 meeting of the LWF Council meeting was significant especially because of its location.
Closing press conference: (from left) Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan, LWF President Bishop Mark S. Hanson, LWF Deputy General Secretary Karin Achtelstetter and LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko. © LWF/D.-M. Grötzsch |
Addressing journalists at the end of the 31 August – September 6 gathering hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL), Hanson said it was important for representatives of LWF churches to be in the Holy Land and to stand in solidarity with the ELCJHL, which hosted the event. Solidarity means “to be present here, accompanying one another, learning from one another while standing shoulder to shoulder in the context of the other,” he noted.
LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko said coming to the Holy Land also meant putting oneself in the situation and taking risks. “We saw the checkpoints and the humiliation that people who live here must experience daily,” he stressed. Seeing with one’s own eyes the separation wall between Israel and Palestinian territories was very important. When participants in the Council meeting return to their respective home countries, they would be able to read news about the region more critically, he observed.
ELCJHL Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan, spoke of the impact of the LWF Council for the witness of Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land especially for the cause of justice. “Our people will never forget the experience they had here,” he said, and expressed hope that there would be more of such meetings in the region.
Next LWF Council Meeting in Geneva in 2006
Members of the LWF Council vote on recommendations of the LWF Program Committees. © LWF/D.-M. Grötzsch |
The Council decided to hold its next meeting, 27 August – 2 September 2006 in Geneva. At this year’s meeting, Council members agreed to the LWF general secretary’s proposal that the frequency of the governing body’s meetings be changed from every 12 months to a flexible period of between 12 to 18 months. A wider spacing would provide more time for the implementation of resolutions and decisions of the Council and related committees, and provide sufficient time to accomplish follow-up work. More...
LWF Council Urges Israel to End Occupation of Palestinian Territories
The LWF Council has reiterated its call for an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and affirmed the implementation of the Roadmap for peace as crucial to establishing a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, with a shared city of Jerusalem.
In a public statement adopted September 6 at its meeting in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the Council said many of its members had encountered “the [Israeli] separation wall and found shocking its impact on the daily lives of Palestinians.” They mentioned the wall’s implication for, among others, church members who could not attend services; farmers who were cut off from their fields; school-children delayed in, or prevented from, reaching their schools; and patients, who were unable to reach hospitals and clinics. The statement was presented by the Council’s Program Committee for International Affairs and Human Rights.
In the statement titled, “Challenged to a Ministry of Reconciliation in the Holy Land,” the representatives of LWF member churches from all over the world said their stay in Jerusalem and Bethlehem had opened the “eyes of many of us to the daily sufferings of the Palestinian people, often not shown to us by the media, and in which context our member church speaks boldly a message of hope and reconciliation.” This year’s Council meeting was hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) under the theme, “The Church: Called to a Ministry of Reconciliation.” More...
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