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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 17.09.2002 |
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| Council Press Release No. - 21 Council Endorses Proposal for Addition to LWF Name |
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LWF Council Meeting, Wittenberg, Germany, 10-17 September 2002
Affirmation of 1990 Understanding of LWF as a Communion of Churches
WITTENBERG, Germany/GENEVA, 17 September 2002 (LWI) – Members of the Council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) endorsed a proposal for an addition to the present name of the Federation, so that the acronym LWF would mean “The Lutheran World Federation – A Communion of Churches.” This change was affirmed with the understanding that should the full name prove to be too long for practical reasons, the present name without the addition also remains valid. In both instances, the LWF remains the normal acronym.
The Council accepted this proposal from the Standing Committee for Ecumenical Affairs, when committee Vice-Chairperson, Bishop Eero Huovinen, Finland presented recommendations from a joint session between the Standing Committee and the Program Committee for Theology and Studies. The two committees were responding to the report of the General Secretary on “The Nature of the LWF as a Communion of Churches.” This report was the outcome of the findings of a task force appointed by the General Secretary upon a 2001 Council recommendation to initiate discussion on the possibility of a name change for the LWF. The committees had underlined that the time was not right for a name change, and recalled the most far-reaching change so far in the ecclesial character of the Federation – the 1990 Curitiba Assembly adoption of the present constitution, which defines the LWF as a communion of churches.
Apart from name change, other concerns raised in the report and discussed by the committees included deepening and strengthening communion, the possibility of common assemblies with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and other church organizations, synodical ways of considering global unity and changes in the LWF governing bodies.
The Council also asked the Executive Committee to consider ways in which the financing of the continuous core functions in the area of theology and ecumenism may be supported by the Geneva coordination budget. The committees had discussed the August 2002 General Secretary’s letter to the Council responding to the 2001 Council resolution calling for a financial plan of action for theology and ecumenism in the LWF.
In addition, the Executive Committee was asked to establish a small group to carry out a strategic planning process for theology and ecumenism in the LWF, taking into specific consideration the Department for Theology and Studies, Office for Ecumenical Affairs and Institute for Ecumenical Research, Strasbourg.
On the current developments in the WCC including the Orthodox participation in the Council, the LWF Council affirmed the continued ecumenical role of the WCC today and in the time head. The Council asked the LWF General Secretary and Strasbourg Institute to carefully follow and contribute to the developments regarding the participation of the Christian world communions in the WCC.
Other actions by the LWF Council on the report of the theology and ecumenical affairs committees included the appointment of Archbishop Georg D. Kretschmar, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States, as the current co-president of the Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission following the resignation of Bishop emeritus William H. Lazareth, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Bishop Esbjörn Hagberg, Church of Sweden, was endorsed as a new Commission member, replacing retired Bishop Lars Eckerdal.
The Council received the final reports of the Anglican – Lutheran International Working Group, and the Lutheran – Reformed Joint Working Group and asked the General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko to send these documents to the LWF member churches for study and response.
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