The Church and Social Issues
Holding Governments Accountable
Consultation participants Yenenesh Geleta Woljeti from Ethiopia (l) and Selma Chen from Taiwan © LWF/T. Rakoto |
“Give us today our daily bread.” Reflecting on this petition, Martin Luther was clear about governments’ responsibility for the common good and the welfare of all. Yet, today, governments often fall far short in this task.
Churches may feel unable or too vulnerable to engage governments critically, or may be hesitant to be involved in collaborative ecumenical and civil society advocacy efforts.
An October 2009 DTS consultation revisited Lutheran theological bases for churches holding governments accountable given current realities and past experiences, especially in Africa and Asia.
Read the consultation communiqué "A Call for Churches Critically to Engage with Governments." 
Theological Responses to Climate Change
How can faith-based organizations respond to climate change that deeply affects our survival, livelihood and future?
Read about the LWF climate change encounter in India |
People in local communities draw on various resources—scientific, biblical, spiritual, traditional, indigenous and cultural—to cope with or adapt to the dramatic effects of climate change. What ways of thinking about God in relation to creation are constructive—or not—in times of cataclysmic climate change? What are the implications for responsible human action and for what churches in local settings teach and practice?
This DTS study program brought theological, spiritual and ethical reflection to bear on actual experiences and work being carried out through LWF field programs and member churches, especially in those parts of the world most vulnerable to climate change. Such reflection has the potential to challenge how we view urgent climate change crises and related developments and how we seek to redress them, as a matter of justice toward other people, the rest of creation and the future.
“Witnessing to Hope amid Rising Waters”: about 25 persons from India and other countries met in the coastal community of Puri, India, 16–20 April 2009 to witness first hand the dramatic effect of climate change in the area, and to reflect on interconnections with developments in other parts of the world.
The discussion resource, God, Creation and Climate Change: A Resource for Reflection and Discussion is available in English and in German . The book, God, Creation and Climate Change: Spiritual and Ethical Perspectives, LWF Studies 02/2009, is available in English only. [Please click to order, CHF 16, USD 15, Euro 10, plus postage and packing].
Past Study Programs
Lutheran Ethics at the Intersections of God's One World
In today’s world, there are significantly different ethical perspectives even within one confessional tradition. These perspectives vary with cultural context, history, politics, gender, ethnic and interreligious dynamics. Read more
Responding as a Lutheran Communion to Neoliberal Globalization
From 2000-2004, the LWF had a programmatic focus on the challenges posed today by economic globalization, as part of the wider ecumenical family and with civil society. Read more
For further information, please contact Rev. Dr Karen Bloomquist.
