Council Press Release No. 17 - Council Recommends Strategic Communication Planning in the LWF
LWF Council Meeting, Wittenberg, Germany, 10-17 September 2002
Document on Guiding Principles for Comprehensive Communication to be Sent to Member Churches
WITTENBERG, Germany/GENEVA, 17 September 2002 (LWI) – Departments and offices of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) have been urged to engage in a strategic communication planning process that ensures the integration of communication in the budgetary component of each activity.
The LWF Council made this recommendation when it received the report of the Program Committee for Communication Services, presented September 16 by committee chairperson Bishop Dr. Béla Harmati. The Council also affirmed that an amount of CHF 100,000 (USD 62,500) designated for communication core activities in 2001 be sustained until 2004.
The recommendations were based on the program committee’s discussion on the report of the General Secretary on the “Communication in the LWF Structure,” compiled by a task force in May 2002. The Council called for the task force at its June 2001 meeting, in view of the difficult situation for OCS over the years.
Guiding Principles for Comprehensive Communication in the LWF
The Council also asked the General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko, to support and implement the concepts of a document “Guiding Principles for Comprehensive Communication in the LWF,” developed as a follow-up to recommendations by the 1997 Ninth Assembly, that the LWF develop a comprehensive communication policy. The document will be sent to member churches for reception, translation and comment.
Communication committee member Rev. Telmor Sartison, retired national bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada commented on the “Guiding Principles for Comprehensive Communication in the LWF” prepared May 2002 by a committee that he chaired. The consultative process included representatives from LWF member churches, and was led by the Office for Communication Services (OCS) in cooperation with the desk for Christian Education and Communication Consultancy in the Department for Mission and Development.
Sartison emphasized that the guiding principles’ document does not represent a finalized process but opens up discussion on how to respond to contemporary communication challenges and enhance communication in the Lutheran communion.
The Council affirmed steps being taken to seek methods of collaboration between OCS and the Department for World Service for example in promoting an information network for humanitarian action, and encouraging international group visits for journalists to DWS country programs and projects.
Ecumenical News International
The Council also recommended that the LWF tries to maintain its annual membership fee of CHF 100,000 (USD 62,500) to Ecumenical News International (ENI), without affecting the OCS budget. In the discussion on this item, the Council reiterated the LWF’s commitment to ENI but registered concern about the continued level of support particularly in view of overall decreased income in the LWF. ENI’s four founding members include the World Council of Churches, World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Conference of European Churches and LWF.
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