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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 26.04.2008 |
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| Costa Rica: Lutheran Church President Jiménez to Be Installed as Bishop |
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Consecration Will Strengthen Ecumenical Relations
SAN JOSÉ, Costa Rica/GENEVA, 26 April 2008 (LWI) – The Rev. Melvin Jiménez Marín, president of the Lutheran Costarican Church (Iglesia Luterana Costarricense – ILCO) will be consecrated on 27 April in San José, becoming Costa Rica’s first Lutheran bishop.
A church statement issued before the installation said the bishop’s consecration should “strengthen ecumenical relations – in particular with the Roman Catholic Church.” The various historical confessions of the Christian faith can now “embrace the cause of justice, peace and fraternity, which are the visible signs of the Kingdom of God in our midst,” said the 51-year-old ILCO president. He noted the local Lutheran congregations, because of their growth and development, had expressed the desire to have a “pastor of pastors” and a voice “to guide the church and society.”
In a congratulatory letter to ILCO’s bishop designate, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko pointed out that Jiménez would be the bishop of a church that “wants to be a church without walls.” He would serve a church “that has a commitment to interact vividly with its immediate context and surrounding. A church, that is committed to offer the Word of God and the sacraments publicly, and that wants to open space to all people, independent of their condition or [origin], so that they can enjoy the transforming, reconciliating and empowering presence of God in their lives and in their society.” He would be consecrated bishop of a church “that wants to be determinedly public and fundamentally inclusive,” stated Noko.
Born on 23 June 1956, Jiménez studied sociology at the University of Costa Rica. He completed his theological studies at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, USA. Ordained in 1990, he has been serving as ILCO church president since 2000. He is also the founder and leader of six non-governmental organizations actively involved in the fields of informal education, micro-credit, sustainable agriculture, social economics and child and adolescent rights.
ILCO was founded in 1988 at the initiative of a group of former Lutherans and Christians from other traditions who wanted to establish a church that would promote popular pastoral care with an integral ministry of word, sacrament and service. The church currently has around 1,300 members, and has been an LWF member church since 2002.
ILCO’s work mainly focuses on strengthening Christian communities and providing support to indigenous, urban and rural populations, including farmers. People from the poorer regions and urban areas and from among indigenous groups, agricultural settings and Nicaraguan immigrants are becoming increasingly involved in the church’s congregational life.
ILCO has more than 30 congregations throughout the country, with a social program benefitting over 5,000 people. A “church without walls,” as it calls itself, it defends the rights of people who have been excluded or live in precarious conditions. It carries out advocacy campaigns and is actively engaged in important political and socioeconomic causes such as guaranteeing the rights of people living with HIV and the realization of just free trade agreements. In addition, ILCO supports movements fighting against xenophobia and promoting indigenous people’s rights. It is recognized nationally and internationally for its commitment to employees’ rights and to environmental protection. (542 words)
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