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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 18.11.2005 |
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| Church Leaders Resolve to Establish Lutheran Council in Africa |
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Need for Renewal of Lutheran Communion
WINDHOEK, Namibia/GENEVA, 18 November 2005 (LWI) – Participants in the Africa Lutheran Church Leadership Conference have agreed to establish a Lutheran Council in Africa to strengthen cooperation and enhance efforts in addressing challenges faced by the churches there. The historic conference took place 9–14 November in Windhoek, Namibia, under the theme, “From Isolation to Communion: For the Healing of Africa.”
The leaders of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches in Africa also committed themselves, in a final statement, to actively engage in renewal of the whole Lutheran communion.
The new council would guide and ensure the participation and input of all member churches in the Africa region in relation to the proposed LWF renewal process (see www.lutheranworld.org/news/lwi/en/1727.en.html), and serve as a monitoring mechanism in the implementation of the conference commitments. It would also ensure good governance, transparency, and equitable power sharing in the churches, including the involvement of women, youth and people with disabilities.
The participants, comprised of over 80 representatives of African Lutheran churches and partner churches and organizations, stressed that communion was not possible without communication. They resolved to establish the Africa Lutheran Communication and Information Network (ALCINET) that would include a Web site located with the Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa (LUCSA), print media with the Lutheran Communion in Central and Eastern Africa (LUCCEA), and audio and video communication, so-called airwaves, with the Lutheran Communion in Western Africa (LUCWA).
Renewed Commitment to Fight Against HIV/AIDS
The participants also reaffirmed the commitments of the first Pan-African church leaders’ consultation on the challenges of HIV/AIDS in May 2002, which officially launched the global LWF HIV/AIDS campaign and action plan titled, “Compassion, Conversion, Care: Responding as Churches to the HIV/AIDS Pandemic.” They pledged to mainstream HIV/AIDS in all church activities and develop policies that guard against stigmatization and discrimination of all people living with HIV/AIDS.
Recognizing that the suffering in churches and congregations today could not be handled by the ordained leadership alone, the church leaders stressed the need to review current theological curricula for relevance, establish management and leadership-training programs for senior church leaders, and embark on lay-leadership training and empowerment in line with the Lutheran understanding of the priesthood of all believers.
Sustainability in the Church
They further acknowledged the difficult working environment for church workers throughout the continent. They stressed the need for a plan of action to address issues related to sustainability and working conditions in their churches and to seek the accompaniment of the LWF and partners in such a process.
The three Lutheran churches in Namibia and the LWF jointly hosted the Africa Lutheran Church Leadership Conference, which also commemorated the 50th anniversary of the first joint conference of African Lutheran churches held in Marangu, Tanzania, in 1955. (470 words)
The full text of the statement of the Africa Church Leadership Conference follows:
Africa Lutheran Church Leadership Conference
09-13 November 2005
Windhoek, Namibia
Statement by the Lutheran communion of churches in Africa
Preamble
We, leaders and representatives of the Lutheran Communion in Africa comprising 30 member churches in 22 countries with over fourteen million Christians: guests and partners from Europe, bringing together over eighty participants, met in Windhoek, Namibia, from 9 to 13 November 2005, under the theme “From isolation to communion for the healing of Africa”. We gathered to share experiences, deepen our fellowship, and to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first gathering of Lutheran churches in Africa held in Marangu, Tanzania, in 1955.
We express our gratitude to the government of Namibia, Africa’s youngest independent country, for granting entry visa to all participants and for the good hospitality we received from the government and the people of Namibia. We pray for the continued healing and reconciliation of the country and its peoples.
We were blessed and inspired by the presence of Rev. Jason Amakutuwa and Rev. Ephraim Angula of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia, and Rev. Hans-Karl Diehl of the Evangelical Lutheran in the Republic of Namibia, who were participants at the first All Africa Lutheran Conference and are now in their late 80s.
We were also inspired and blessed by the presence of partners from Finland (representatives from the Union of Church Workers in Finland, Union of Finnish Clergy and the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church, FELM) and the Norwegian Missionary Society, NMS. We acknowledge apologies from sisters and brothers from Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern and Western Europe, North America who could not come. We are thankful for their prayers that made the conference a success.
We celebrate the growth of the Lutheran Communion in Africa from the first Conference in Marangu in 1955 to Windhoek in 2005.
We acknowledge the unquantifiable wealth and richness of Africa in terms of natural and human resources, diverse cultures and many positive values in our traditions
During the Conference we received with gratitude election of a new President of Liberia and the first female president in Africa. Similarly we celebrate positive signs of political stability in a number of African countries.
We met in the background of the challenges of globalization, poverty, the HIV and AIDS pandemic, the threat of terrorism, bad governance, religious plurality, the constant threat of war in some of our countries, corruption, marginalization of one another, and disunity in some of our churches. These challenges impact negatively on the lives of our churches and manifest themselves in various ways, the most visible being the increasing economic difficulties experienced by our churches, resulting in poor working conditions of church workers and pensioners. We reflected on holistic approach to the mission of the church and the journey ahead.
We realize that our unity gives us strength and hope to contribute towards the search for a healthy Africa. We noted the progress made by Lutheran churches since Marangu in 1955 and pay tribute to the pioneers for their courage and vision in that milestone event to reduce borders and walls of isolation which hurt us.
We however recognize that since Marangu the Africa Lutheran Church Leadership Conferences have made progress in implementing the vision articulated in Marangu and subsequent Conferences. However we acknowledge that significant recommendations envisaged in Marangu and subsequent Conferences remain un-implemented including: theological education, leadership formation, communication, sustainability, good governance, ecumenical engagement, appalling working conditions, conflict caused by misunderstanding among religions, issues related to human sexuality, poverty and under development, HIV/AIDS.
To respond to these challenges we commit ourselves to the following processes and plans:
The Prophetic Role of the Church
Reminded of our diaconal and prophetic role in church and society, we undertake to continue to witness against all kind of forces of hate; violence against children, women and all vulnerable persons; economic injustice; and poverty; civil wars in including the recruitment of child soldiers; forced religious violence, terrorism and extremism; corruption and bad leadership that perpetuate poverty.
The Renewal of the Lutheran Communion
We recognize the need for the renewal of the entire Lutheran Communion to strengthen our cooperation and enhance our efforts to address these challenges. We commit ourselves to actively engage in the renewal process by implementing our decision to establish a Lutheran Council in Africa which, among other things, will:
(a) guide and ensure the participation and input of all member Churches in the region with regard to the renewal process.
(b) Appoint a doctrinal committee.
(c) serve as monitoring mechanism in the implementation of our commitments
(d) dialogue and interact with ecumenical and other regional bodies
(e) set up mechanisms for pastoral peer review within the Lutheran Communion in Africa, to ensure good governance, transparency, and equity in the sharing of power in the churches including the involvement of women, youth and people with disability.
That in view of the radical changes that have occurred since the LWF Eighth Assembly in Curitiba, Brazil, in 1990, we call on LWF to engage the churches once again in a comprehensive process of LWF renewal in order to put in place a new LWF by the year 2010.
Communication
We recognize that there can be no communion without communication. We therefore resolved to establish the Africa Lutheran Communication and Information Network (ALCINET) with the following components for the time being:
i. Website located in LUCSA
ii. Print media located in LUCCEA
iii. Audio and video (airwaves) located in LUCCWA
In addition we commit ourselves to strengthening our exchange programs and pastoral visits and sharing of resources.
We are appalled that communication and transportation remains a serious barrier in Africa, for example, some of the delegates to the Conference had to come via other continents. We strongly call on the Africa Union (AU) to enter into serious dialogue to find ways to improve this situation.
HIV/AIDS
We reaffirm our commitments in Nairobi 2002 to break the silence and actively engage in the fight against HIV and AIDS. In order to further the fulfillment of these commitments we undertake to do the following:
i. Develop in our churches, policy on HIV and AIDS that do not stigmatize and discriminate PLWHAS
ii. Mainstream HIV and AIDS in all activities of our churches.
iii. We denounce discrimination and stigma of any kind and undertake to develop strategies to deal with stigma, discrimination and other cultural practices and beliefs that contribute towards the spread of HIV and AIDS.
iv. to continue to learn best practices from each other, other faith communities, governments and organizations to advance the campaign.
v. Reflect, and continue to find ways to incorporate African values that will help us advance our course in addressing HIV/AIDS
vi. Reflect upon Christian ethics as it relates to issues of HIV/AIDS
Theological Education and Leadership formation
We recognize the increasing difficulty in providing relevant leadership for the church in the context in which it finds itself today. Furthermore, we recognize the vast needs in our churches and congregations that cannot be handled by ordained leadership alone. Therefore, we commit ourselves to:
i. review our theological curriculum to ensure their relevance
ii. Establish management and leadership training programs for senior church leaders (Continuing education).
iii. Embark on lay leadership training and empowerment in line with our Lutheran understanding of the priesthood of all believers.
iv. Implement our many resolutions regarding the empowerment of women in various levels of leadership in the church (ordination, advanced theological education).
v. Implement our many resolutions and commitments regarding the inclusion of youth at all levels of leadership in the church.
vi. Mandate ACTEA to undertake the additional task of research and publication.
vii. Pursue our self understanding and clarification on theological education, ethical, dogmatic, and charismatic issues, and clear understanding of hermeneutics before entering into dialogue.
Interfaith and Ecumenical Relations
We affirm that we cannot work in isolation, especially in dealing with the various challenges confronting our communities, societies, and the continent as a whole. We therefore commit ourselves:
i. to ecumenical engagement,
ii. inter-religious dialogue to strengthen healthy relationship and cooperation towards peace and development.
iii. To theologically clarify our understanding of interfaith dialogue, and especially the tendency to relate or equate it with conversion.
Sustainability in the church
We recognize the difficult conditions that workers in the church often find themselves, which affects their human dignity and level performance. We are further saddened by the growing rate of unemployment especially for young people. We therefore commit ourselves to pursue the following:
i. to develop and implement visions, systems and structures that strengthen good governance, transparency and sharing of power in our churches as a basis for sustainability of the mission of the church.
ii. Take positive steps to ensure good governance in the church while we continue to advocate for the same in our governments and civil societies.
iii. Set up an advocacy team comprising representatives of the sub regions to work with sister churches to support, encourage, advocate and sometimes challenge our governments …
iv. Each church to embark on drawing a plan of action to address the issues related to sustainability and working conditions in the church, and to seek the accompaniment of the LWF and partners.
Decent working conditions in the Church and Society
We shared impressions and experiences on working conditions and quality of life in the church ( including pensions Schemes, retirement grants, salary policies, vacation and holidays, life insurance and other benefits for church employees and youth unemployment.
We recognize that only a few Lutheran churches in Africa have reasonable personnel policies. This situation leaves much to be desired, requiring an urgent action. Therefore we commit ourselves to:
i. Improve the quality of working life in the church. In the immediate term we undertake to come up with a plan of action to improve salaries and other conditions of work in our churches.
ii. to come up with a strategic plan to expand the resource base of the church, including,
a. Exploring possibilities of tax exemptions on donations to support social services institutions of the church.
b. Explore diverse means of investment plan, for example, by establishing church banks.
c. To encourage cross border investment with fellow Lutheran churches and NGOs.
iii. To develop policies for diversified investments.
iv. Embark on advocacy for the return of the resources of Africa that were obtained through illegitimate means.
v. Encourage economic status of the people, by utilizing the vast human and economic resources that we have.
vi. Embark on continuous dialogue with our governments for the creation of jobs to halt the growing poverty rate in the continent.
vii. Develop strategies for reducing youth unemployment by:
a. exploring possibilities for creating self-employment.
b. Discuss with government and policy makers at the MACRO level about prioritizing youth active participation in the work force. Young people should not be seen as a problem but a resource for the economic market.
c. Re-visioning of education and its relation to life and work, which should include refocusing priority on the training of middle level entrepreneurial skills and making scholarship and financial assistance available.
d. Explore the possibility of Loan fund schemes and training for networked small businesses with forward and backward as well as lateral linkages, as un-networked small businesses are too fragile to succeed in a situation of widespread poverty and negative economic globalization.
e. Request the LWF through the Africa desk to undertake research regarding alternative education approaches (education for life) that can help reduce unemployment among the youth.
The LWF Mission Document
We receive with gratitude the LWF contribution to the understanding of holistic mission and diaconia through the mission document “Mission in Context: Transformation, Reconciliation, Empowerment”. We commit ourselves to the translation of the document into national languages to benefit the congregations.
The LWF Endowment Fund
We are again grateful for the establishment of the LWF Endowment Fund for the sake of the entire Lutheran Communion. We recommit ourselves to seeking ways to support the Fund.
Statement by the Youth Participants
We are grateful for the active participation of youth who were present at the Conference. We receive the statement they presented (which is appended) and commit ourselves to bring the issues they raised to the governing bodies of our churches and the LWF.
50th Anniversary Celebration
We give thanks to God for the first Conference in 1955 and the opportunity to celebrate 50 years together. We give thanks to God for the forbearers of our Faith and all those who suffered or died for the freedom of Africa. We commit ourselves to continue the faith that our forbearers handed to us and our children.
We recognize that the growth of Lutheran Communion in Africa has not been in Isolation from the regional communions in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America. We express our gratitude for the support and cooperation from our sisters and brothers in the worldwide communion during our journey over the last fifty years.
We send through the LWF General Secretary, our congratulations and wishes for Gods blessing to the Lutheran communion in Asia which shall be marking its fiftieth anniversary in the year 2006, and the LWF worldwide Communion sixtieth anniversary in 2007. We pray for God’s blessings during these celebrations.
Follow Up
The LWF secretariat is asked to:
a. enable the setting up of the Lutheran Council in Africa in consultation with the sub regional leadership.
b. in consultation with sub regional leadership, find amicable solution to concerns raised about sub regional set up by the middle of next year.
c. find specific ways of continued dialogue with Church unions in Finland.
Conclusion
In conclusion we express our deepest gratitude to the LWF for accompanying the Lutheran communion in Africa for the past fifty years and for making it possible for us to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of our gathering. We have received much, and are committed to the enhancement of the Communion. To God be the glory.
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