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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 03.10.2008 |
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| Church Leadership Responsibility Elaborated at LWF Regional Meeting |
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Increasing Secularization Remains a Major Challenge
GREIFSWALD, Germany/GENEVA, 3 October 2008 (LWI) – The responsibility of church leaders was deliberated at a Lutheran World Federation (LWF) gathering for church leaders in Europe.
“It is a major responsibility of those exercising leadership positions in the church to make people—both inside and outside the church—see why the church is important,” explained Rev. Dr Kjell Nordstokke, director of the LWF Department for Mission and Development (DMD). He pointed to the document, Episcopal Ministry within the Apostolicity of the Church - The Lund Statement by the Lutheran World Federation – A Communion of Churches, adopted at the March 2007 LWF Council meeting in Lund, Sweden.
The Lund Statement has been formulated as an expression of the commonalities that exist among the Lutheran churches in teaching and practices in the understanding of ministry, ordination and leadership of the church. It is the outcome of an LWF study process initiated in 2000, taking into account the context of the ecumenical movement, in which the LWF remains a committed participant.
Nordstokke’s presentation titled “Contemporary Challenges of Church Leadership,” focused on the question on how authority could be practiced in the church. He pointed out that Jesus’ behavior challenged Christians to exercise authority and power not as power over but as power for [people]. Therefore “it is [the] profound dimension of grace and freedom that empowers for exercising authority in Christian leadership at any level, including the episcopal ministry,” he told leaders from the 44 LWF member churches in Europe meeting mid-September in Greifswald, Germany.
The DMD director stressed it was important that church leaders were trustworthy and had the ability to communicate a vision of where the organization needed to go. “Called to Grow, Lead and Nurture” was the theme of the European Church Leadership Consultation, attended by 90 bishops, presidents of churches and synods, and other church leaders in the region. It was hosted by the Evangelical Church of Pomerania.
Responding to Nordstokke’s presentation, Kati Myllymaeki, a delegate from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, stressed the need to bring young people and women more into church leadership positions. Congregational members should also be encouraged to use their talents and gifts in church life in order to strengthen the role of the congregation as a whole, she said.
Amid increasing secularization, the church was confronted with the choice of losing members and thus appealing to a hard core of regular church-goers, or becoming a participatory church by reaching out to people where they are, noted Myllymaeki. She recommended the latter model saying it empowered the church to turn the passive role of its members into active involvement in congregational life.
Gospel Proclamation
Despite all changes, however, proclaiming the gospel particularly in rapidly changing times remained the main purpose of the church and the goal of all its pastors, said Rev. Dr Jean-François Collange, president of the Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine (Eglise protestante de la confession d'Augsbourg d'Alsace et de Lorraine - EPAL) in France.
He explained the April 2006 founding of the Union of Protestant Churches of Alsace and Lorraine (l'Union des Eglises protestantes d'Alsace et de Lorraine - UEPAL), comprising the Church of the Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine (ECAAL) and the Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine (ERAL). In order to give a clearer expression to their common identity, ECAAL and ERAL changed their names to the Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine and the Protestant Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine, respectively.
Collange pointed out, however, that structures were meaningless “unless they enable the wealth of the gospel to be passed on and lived out in a more contemporary and effective way.”
In a final message, the consultation participants said they saw the growing interest in religious matters and spirituality as an “encouraging sign.” The churches were urged to pay closer attention to increased mobility and migration both within Europe and throughout the world, as these challenges could not be met at the national level alone.
An LWF discussion process begun at the July 2003 Assembly in Winnipeg, Canada, on “Marriage, Family, and Human Sexuality” was also discussed in Greifswald. Regardless of varying views, particularly with reference to homosexuality, there was an express will to remain united within the LWF.
The church representatives also expressed support for the LWF renewal process, aimed at deepening the Lutheran communion. Emphasis was made on the need for stronger cooperation in the LWF as a whole as the renewal process could possibly reduce the participation of European churches, especially the smaller ones. (769 words)
The message from the LWF European Church Leadership Consultation is available on the LWF Web site at, www.lutheranworld.org/Events/Greifswald_2008/LWF_Greifswald_Message_EN.pdf
The Lund Statement can be downloaded at, www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/LWF_The_Lund_Statement_2007.pdf
The Proposed Guidelines and Processes for Respectful Dialogue on Marriage, Family and Human Sexuality are available at, www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/2007_Council/Task_Force_Report-EN.pdf (also in French, German, Spanish and Portuguese)
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