Office for Ecumenical Affairs
 Members of the Program Committee for Ecumenical Affairs, Geneva, Switzerland, 2004. © LWF/D. Zimmermann |
The LWF Constitution states: "The Lutheran World Federation confesses the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church and is resolved to serve Christian unity throughout the world."
Since its inception, the LWF has been committed to building ecumenical relations with other Christian world communions and the World Council of Churches (WCC). The LWF also seeks to promote ecumenical engagement of member churches, both nationally and regionally.
The terms of reference of the Office for Ecumenical Affairs (OEA) reflect much of the LWF ecumenical agenda. An important part of the OEA mandate is to maintain vital relationships with other Christian world communions and provide leadership and support for bilateral dialogues approved by the LWF Council.
To foster contact with those Lutheran churches which are not members of the Federation is another important task of the office.
The OEA also arranges for study projects required by the various forms of ecumenical engagement it supports, working primarily with the Department for Theology and Studies and the Institute for Ecumenical Research, in Strasbourg, France.
All ecumenical work requires creative interaction between ecumenical theology and ecumenical procedures. This interaction is particularly important for the work in the OEA.
Much of the LWF's ecumenism involves participation in the development of agreed texts and reports by ecumenical commissions. This Web site will provide links to these documents at a later date.
For further information please contact: Ms Sybille Graumann.
