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LWF Acting General Secretary Junge Seeks Synergies to Enhance Resource Sharing

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LWF Acting General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge (right) follows the consultation's opening session as DMD Secretary for Human Resources Development Abebe Yohannes Saketa (left) explains the meeting's objectives. © LWF/H. Putsman Penet

Scholarship Program Has Made a Difference for Churches and Society

GENEVA, 7 October 2010 (LWI) – A consultation called to review the international scholarship program of The Lutheran Word Federation (LWF) opened in the Swiss city of Montreux, with a call to effectively utilize the available resources and synergies in the Lutheran communion to promote ongoing learning.

The LWF is endowed with an “ecology of knowledges,” said Acting General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge when he addressed participants to the 5 – 8 October global consultation, “Education and Training Impact and Strategy.” He argued for a plural form of knowledge, emphasizing the diversity of information and learning in the LWF, as was evident at the organization’s July 2010 Assembly in Stuttgart, Germany, under the theme “Give Us Today Our Daily Bread.”

Junge assumes full responsibility as LWF general secretary in November, succeeding the incumbent Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko. The Chilean theologian was elected at the October 2009 LWF Council meeting.

The 40 participants in the Montreux consultation will review the results of an external evaluation of the LWF scholarship program. The aim is to identify and systematize the most crucial priority areas for the program, with a view to making it respond to the strategic human capacity development needs of the churches for the period following the Eleventh Assembly.

Junge said the Assembly resolutions related to the different forms of bread and hunger and how members of the Lutheran communion, as global citizens, can respond together to these myriad challenges. “I am grateful that we continue to address social, ecological and other outside perspectives. We are not withdrawing, but paying attention to these crucial issues and thus giving continued expression to the diaconal nature of the LWF communion of churches,” he added, referring to the Eleventh Assembly resolutions on climate change, gender justice, human trafficking and food justice among others.

He emphasized the consultation as a significant part of a broader re-visioning of the organization’s work in view of the LWF Renewal Process and development of the Strategic Plan for the period 2012 to 2017, both of which take into account the Assembly outcomes. The question of synergies in the Lutheran communion remains crucial, said Junge. “How does this instrument of the international scholarship program become more connected to other programmatic processes? How do we make it an instrument to be shared like the many other resources, capacities and knowledges that we have in the communion?”

The incoming general secretary underlined the polycentric nature of the LWF—having more than one center—as important in promoting strong participation and different expressions to respond to various needs and participate as equals in God’s mission. “How do we learn together from the different contexts?” he asked participants to the global consultation coordinated by the Human Resources desk of the LWF Department for Mission and Development (DMD).

In his welcoming remarks, DMD Director Rev. Dr Musa P. Filibus pointed out that while the statistical data in the evaluation report highlighted some of the success stories—932 scholarships between 2000 and 2010 comprising 1,516 scholars—the issue went beyond figures. “It is about the difference the LWF is making in the life of member churches and society. The scholarships contribute to broadening the professional and leadership competence of those trained, which in turn inspire new experiences in their churches,” he emphasized.

Filibus underscored the program’s contribution to envisioning gender equity through the numerical increase of female scholars and integration of women, their gifts and leadership in their churches. He cited “opportunities for deepening relationships and incorporation of deep contextual experiences and insights into theological thinking, mission practice, renewal of worship and liturgy,” as equally important aspects of the scholarship program.

The DMD director however stressed the need to acknowledge and pay attention to the gaps and limitations identified by the evaluation report. He spoke of inadequacy in terms of institutional learning and understanding how the experiences transform church institutions. There was also limited knowledge and utilization of policies and guidelines in member churches in discerning their priorities for human resources training, he added. (688 words)

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