The three Lutheran churches in Namibia have affirmed their commitment to Lutheran unity in the country through the formal establishment of a united church council on 1 March.
The establishment of the United Church Council of the Namibia Evangelical Lutheran Churches (UCC-NELC) followed a meeting in November 2006 at which the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN) and the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN-GELC) decided to move toward unification. The UCC-NELC replaces the Lutheran World Federation-Namibian National Committee (LWF-NCC) which was formed 14 years ago to foster greater Lutheran unity in Namibia. This will now be dissolved to make way for the new council.
“We are now looking for ways of joint activities and of strengthening a unified Lutheran voice in matters of common concern. The ultimate aim is to become one Lutheran church in Namibia,” the country’s Lutheran bishops said in a joint statement.
A 22 April celebration at the Inner-City Lutheran Congregation in Windhoek will mark the UCC-NELC’s establishment, including the official inauguration of its members.
The Lutheran churches make up the biggest Christian denomination in Namibia with the ELCIN accounting for 652,195 members, the ELCRN 350,000 members, while the ELCIN-GELC has 5,200 members. All three are LWF member churches. They account for slightly more than half of Namibia’s total population of 2 million people. (227 words)
(Erika von Wietersheim and Ecumenical News International.)
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