LWF to Join Ecumenical Process to Combat Corruption
ARUSHA, Tanzania/GENEVA, 1 July 2008 (LWI) – At its meeting this year in Arusha, Tanzania, the Council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) responded to the report of the Program Committee for Mission and Development with the recommendation that the LWF join an ecumenical process aiming to establish a code of conduct to combat corruption, an issue highlighted in the General Secretary’s report to the Council.
With regard to the question of how LWF’s self-understanding as a communion is reflected in its methods and communication, the Council asked the LWF Secretariat to emphasize the themes of worship and spirituality in the LWF’s programmatic activities.
Conflict
The Program Committee detailed mediation efforts in conflicts in three LWF member churches: the Evangelical Church of the Republic of Croatia, the Lutheran Church in the Philippines and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Congo. The Program Committee expressed appreciation for the Department for Mission and Development’s (DMD) role as mediator in the conflicts and affirmed the importance of conflict resolution as a DMD task.
The Council also received a report on “Practices of Mission Organizations” from DMD Director Rev. Dr Kjell Nordstokke. In the report, DMD proposed procedures enabling the sharing of important information in order to avoid “unhealthy practices of mission organizations” that might lead to conflict within the Lutheran communion.
The DMD director had informed the Council of concern expressed by the LWF Executive Committee in December 2007 about the Lutheran Evangelical Association in Finland (LEAF) – a recognized mission organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland – acting “in a church-divisive manner” in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zambia. He reported that an evaluation of events leading to the Executive Committee statement indicated that Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa leadership had valid concerns about LEAF’s involvement in Zambia. However, Nordstokke added that LEAF recently communicated their readiness to visit the LWF Secretariat in order to clarify the situation.
The DMD report underlined the fact that, normally, mission partners from the North “are responsible for cooperating bilaterally with LWF member churches in the global South.” In instances in which mission organizations take theological positions that may lead to tension or even conflict – such as in the case of women’s ordination –, it is the sending church’s responsibility to inform itself about partners’ attitudes towards such practices.
The report also underlined DMD’s gratitude for “the faithful support of many mission organizations” and its hope of strengthening relations with such organizations for the sake of “facilitating communication and prevent[ing] situations of conflict.”
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Around 170 participants attended this year’s Council meeting including church leaders, officials from LWF partner organizations, invited guests, stewards, interpreters and translators, LWF staff and co-opted staff and accredited media.
The Council is the LWF’s governing body meeting between Assemblies held every six years. The current Council was appointed at the July 2003 Tenth Assembly in Winnipeg, Canada. It comprises the President, Treasurer and 48 persons elected by the Assembly. Other members include advisors, lay and ordained persons, representing the different LWF regions.
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