Consultation

“The African spider builds webs and is always in the center of the web. But the African spider depends only on itself. Human beings can never stand alone. They need to build bridges between one another against isolation,” said Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) at a mid-May communication conference in Geneva.

LWF Consultation on Peace and Human Rights in a Multifaith Context JERUSALEM/GENEVA, 20 June 2008 (LWI) – Participants in a Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Department for World Service (DWS) regional consultation for Asia, Europe and the Middle East singled out human rights’ promotion and protection, greater interfaith understanding, and tolerance as crucial components of the [...]

“If the worldwide Lutheran communion is doing well the local congregations flourish,” stated Rev. Alan Eldrid, president of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELU) in Argentina and Uruguay, during a 28 May visit to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Geneva secretariat.

Ahead of the 11th Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in July 2010, LWF member churches are being challenged to be open to hearing and learning from one another about the positive experiences ordained women are having on churches within and beyond the Lutheran communion.

Theological questions evoked by the challenge of religious resurgence in various world contexts were the focus of a recent Lutheran World Federation (LWF) seminar bringing together 22 teaching theologians mainly from Asia.

“Coming from the Munda indigenous people and a theologian, I have always been concerned about issues on indigenous people. This is the first consultation in the Asian region, which really met some of my expectations.”

The venue and host of their meeting was strategic-a downtown congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) surrounded by corporate high-rise buildings that symbolize empire, but gathering, around a meal prepared by a formerly homeless person who currently feeds the poor, elderly and those without shelter.

“In Colombia people suffer daily from acts of violence,” says Dr Alois Möller, representative of the El Salvador-based Lutheran World Federation Department for World Service regional program for Central America.

Economic violence is the most imminent form of violence in Nicaragua, Bishop Victoria Cortez Rodríguez of the Nicaraguan Lutheran Church of Faith and Hope told participants in a recent meeting of the Lutheran World Federation Department for World Service in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.

An international group of mostly Lutheran theologians met recently at Luther Seminary, St Paul, Minnesota, USA, to develop theological responses to ‘empire.’

“Fundamentalism provides an overarching narrative, in which people find meaning for their lives. Our challenge is to counter this with a compelling counter-narrative of how God is at work in the world, fostering justice, inclusivity and peace,” urged Rev. Dr Barbara Rossing.

Übereilte Gründung weissrussischer Kirche wird bedauert Genf, 22. Mai 2001 (LWI) – Schwerpunkt einer Konsultation des Lutherischen Weltbundes (LWB) für die baltischen und russischen Mitgliedskirchen Ende März in Genf waren die “brennenden und zum Teil schmerzlichen Probleme” in dieser Region. Zur Sprache kamen die Gründung der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche in Weissrussland sowie ungelöste Fragen der Kirchenpolitik [...]