LWF Council Affirms Report on LWF’s Involvement in Ecumenical Reconfiguration Discussion
Proposals for Further Participation in Proposed Ecumenical Alliance for Development
JERUSALEM/BETHLEHEM, 15 September 2005 (LWI) - At its August 31-September 6 meeting the LWF Council affirmed the report of the June 2005 LWF consultation on the “The Future of the LWF in the Context of Ecumenical Reconfiguration.” The LWF governing body asked the General Secretary to bring a proposal to the next LWF Executive Committee meeting on more concrete ways of collaborating with the World Council of Churches (WCC) as outlined in the consultation’s report. The Council’s decision followed discussions of this report by all the seven Program Committees.
The June 2005 report calls for more effective coordination of work within the Lutheran communion and ecumenically. Some distinctive perspectives were proposed on how the LWF might contribute toward the ongoing discussions of ecumenical reconfiguration initiated by the WCC. The consultation underscored the LWF’ s need to be more proactive on the ecumenical scene in the areas of unity, mission and diakonia.
The Council thanked the General Secretary for his strong commitment to the achievement of substantial progress in the ecumenical movement, and expressed appreciation to the WCC for having initiated the discussion process on reconfiguration in the ecumenical movement. The LWF governing body affirmed the continued leadership role of the WCC in this process.
The Council asked the General Secretary to seek more concrete ways of collaborating with the WCC. It emphasized the need for a more specifically recognized role of Christian world communions (CWCs) both within the ecumenical movement as such and in relating to the structures of the WCC.
Broader, Inclusive Forms of World Assemblies
The LWF Council called for serious consideration of possible coordination of governing bodies’ meetings of the WCC and CWCs as well as the achievement of broader ecumenical assemblies, based on the WCC assemblies, where CWCs have their specific space.
The ecumenical greeting from the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) included an invitation to the LWF to consider holding a common Assembly “in the near future possibly with the leadership of the WCC and involving as many CWCs as are willing to join.” The Council stated that its decisions and plans related to the Eleventh LWF Assembly (cf. PRESS RELEASE N0. 08-2005 – “11th Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation in Stuttgart in 2010,” http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/1729.EN.html) are taken with a clear commitment to the vision for Christian unity.
LWF and Proposed Ecumenical Alliance for Development
The LWF Council took a keen interest in the Proposed Ecumenical Alliance for Development (PEAD). As a result of recommendations from program committees, the Council agreed to a number of points, which have been subsequently fed into the ongoing process of shaping the alliance.
These include the formulation of a theological basis for the alliance; a membership policy which enables the participation of all LWF member churches and agencies; the need for a clear description of the role and function of PEAD, with an emphasis on PEAD being a platform; and the need for LWF’s participation at the level of the governance structure of PEAD.
Also agreed was the need for an openness to the use of the ACT [Action by Churches Together] name for the alliance; as well as a desire to ensure that the process of developing PEAD is participatory by nature, within an appropriate timeframe to allow for particularly church involvement. (565 words)
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