Theme of Reaching Out to the Neighbor in Meetings with LWF Staff
GENEVA, 18 August 2011 (LWI) – During a visit to the Ecumenical Center in Geneva, members of the Church of Norway Bishops’ Conference reiterated appreciation for the messages of solidarity, prayers and other forms of support received from churches throughout the world following the 22 July bomb attack in Oslo and killings at Utøya Island.
“We are filled with sorrow. We are mourning in a way never experienced before. But in the midst of hopelessness, crying and tears, we’ve seen and still see hope, faith and love standing up against evil, hate and destruction,” [Lutheran] Church of Norway Presiding Bishop Helga Haugland Byfuglien said, when she preached at the Ecumenical Center chapel on 17 August during a Morning Prayer of Remembrance and Peace.
Reflecting on the Bible reading (1 Cor 13), she emphasized the message that love abides, saying that in the days following the tragic events, people reached out in a new way to comfort each other and the neighbor. She spoke of the experience of “love that makes, not least, the young people stand up for values and the opposite of the brutal killings.”
Byfuglien, vice president of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) for the Nordic region, led a delegation of 12 Church of Norway bishops, and three general secretaries on the visit that included meetings with leadership and staff from the LWF, ACT Alliance and World Council of Churches.
Others who shared their impressions included Bishop Laila Riksaasen Dahl, Tunsberg diocese. She noted that most of the funerals for the 77 victims had taken place by last week – a large majority of them conducted by the Church of Norway. The church’s role is to continue accompanying the bereaved, survivors and other affected persons, especially the youth.
The task of the church “is to give faith for the future, belief in victory of good over evil, because God is stronger than evil,” said Dahl. “We must work for an even more inclusive society with open debate,” she added.
New Language
Bishop Erling Pettersen, Stavanger diocese, narrating what he learned from a 17-year old survivor, said the church had received the gift of a new language of “fellowship, friendship, kindness, unity and love.” He pointed out that not once “did we hear the language of hate or revenge.”
General Secretary Berit Hagen Agøy, Council of Ecumenical Affairs, spoke about the implications for relations between Christians and Muslims in Norway, who have been working together since 1993. Many people at first assumed the attacks were acts of Muslim terrorism, she said. Yet despite the harassment and even death threats experienced by Muslims then, it was Muslim leaders “who stood up and said that the act of the terrorist has nothing to do with Christianity. They taught us not to generalize but to regard everyone as an individual,” she said.
Agøy pointed out that some of the meetings to coordinate support to those affected were held in mosques. The tragedy was “shared grief across religious borders,” she added.
LWF Gratitude and Prayers
The reconciliation theme was continued in meetings with LWF leadership and other staff. In his welcome, Deputy General Secretary Rev. Dr Chandran Paul Martin reiterated LWF’s continued prayers with the people, church and other faith communities in Norway. He emphasized the need to deal with ideologies that inspire rightwing actions. Citing his own country India, he expressed disappointment that Hindu right wing ideas are cited in the manifesto of Anders Behring Breivik, who has admitted to the killings in Norway.
Martin thanked the Norwegian church for its continued support to LWF’s work at the secretariat and in country and regional programs.
Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, LWF study secretary for Lutheran Theology and Practice at the Department for Theology and Studies, explained the self understanding of the LWF as a Lutheran body that works in a global context both ecumenically and with people of other faiths. He pointed out that the experience of being together in communion from different Lutheran traditions can serve as an important bridge in dealing with difficult issues including ethical ones.
LWF assistant general secretary for Ecumenical Affairs Dr Kathryn Johnson, reflected on the topic “fully the church and not the whole church,” when she explained LWF’s ecumenical engagement in international bilateral and multilateral dialogues, and the implications for the grassroots – at congregational levels.
On solidarity after the 22 July events, Johnson said, “you were fully the church responding to the needs of that moment, but you would have been at the same time incomplete without the prayers and support of the whole church.” Ecumenical dialogue work is also about seeking reconciliation, healing and celebration, she added.
Diakonia and Holistic Mission
Rev. Dr Eva Sibylle Vogel-Mfato, area secretary for Europe at the Department for Mission and Development, noted that the church’s role in the recent events in Norway emphasized what holistic mission is about – that proclamation and diakonia (serving) are not separate but integral.
“We are all coming to grips with what it means to be church in a globalized world and changing society,” said Vogel-Mfato. She expressed her hope that in this shocking situation, something new would grow “that gives us the courage to address from our faith perspectives some of the current issues of growing multicultural neighborhoods and of becoming open and inclusive societies.”
Explaining LWF’s response to the drought and refugee crisis in the Horn of Africa, Rev. Eberhard Hitzler, Department for World Service (DWS) director, highlighted the diaconal engagement of LWF staff from different faith traditions working at the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, and in many of the 30 countries where World Service is operational.
“Today, there is a growing fear between cultures; we need to focus on reconciliation by reaching out and experiencing the other,” noted Hitzler. He underlined DWS collaboration with LWF member churches in order to respond together in a professional and compassionate way. (997 words)
See also:
- Russian Bishops Express Gratitude for Contacts with Other Lutheran Churches
- LWF Celebrates Election of First Woman to Head Church of Norway Bishops’ Conference
- LWF Congratulates First Permanent Presiding Bishop of Norwegian Church
- Minority Churches Seek Global Lutheran Solidarity in Climate Change Response
- Norwegian Church to Support Constitutional Proposal to Change Relations with State Structures
- Latvian Church Now Has Three Bishops
- Norwegian Minister Visits LWF
- LWF Welcomes Ecumenical Consequences of Church of England Vote for Women Bishops
- Historic Ecumenical Conference Seeks to Affirm Solidarity and Global Justice for Dalits
- Human Rights Cooperation Affirmed at LWF Meeting with Norwegian Ambassador
