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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 17.09.2002 |
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| Council Press Release No. 22 - LWF Council Urges Churches to Nominate More Youth to Tenth Assembly |
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LWF Council Meeting, Wittenberg, Germany, 10-17 September 2002
Youth Committed to Visions that Radically Improve the Relations between Cultures
WITTENBERG, Germany/GENEVA, 17 September 2002 (LWI) – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Council sent a clear message to LWF member churches that they should nominate more young people to be delegates for the LWF Tenth Assembly next year in Winnipeg, Canada. The action came on the final day of the Council’s September 10-17 meeting in Lutherstadt Wittenberg.
Rev. Huberto Kirchheim, president of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil, offered the motion asking LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko to send a letter to member churches, explaining that the low number of youth being nominated as delegates is “unacceptable.” The letter is also to remind the churches of action taken at the LWF Ninth Assembly in Hong Kong, China in 1997, requesting that 20 percent of the delegates be youth.
The LWF Tenth Assembly Coordinator, Rev. Arthur Leichnitz, told the Council earlier the number of youth delegates nominated from each region of the world is below expectations. Twenty percent of the 442 assembly delegates should be youth delegates, but only 54 of the expected 88 youth have been nominated, he said.
Prior to the LWF Council meeting, 14 young adults from churches in the Central African Republic, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland attended a workshop on “A Multicultural Europe: In Search of a New Vision,” in Lutherstadt Wittenberg. Representatives of the group reported to the Council that European churches face educational, theological, political and relational challenges in creating an inclusive atmosphere.
The youth report to the Council encouraged “all LWF member churches in concerted efforts towards a new way of living together - a just and inclusive multicultural society.” To that end, the young people committed themselves “to go back to our communities and formulate visions that radically improve the relations between cultures.”
The topics of youth representation in the LWF came up during the report of the Council’s Program Committee for Mission and Development. At the request of the committee, the Council also took actions dealing with Lutheran churches in Papua New Guinea and the Republic of China (Taiwan) as well as with the LWF Project Committee.
The Council asked the LWF General Secretary to initiate a dialogue between the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea and Melpa Lutheran church. The two churches are a result of a split. “We want reconciliation,” said Council member Bishop David P. Piso of the Gutnius Lutheran Church - Papua New Guinea. He said seeking dialogue is “right in line with our Christian doctrine” of settling disputes.
In an earlier action, the Council had accepted, with regret the withdrawal of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of China (Taiwan) from LWF membership. As part of the mission and development report, the Council directed the LWF General Secretary and related agencies to pursue dialogue with that church and its partner churches.
Having received the report of the LWF Project Committee, Council approved Department for Mission and Development (DMD) programs and projects totaling USD 7.78 million for 2003, USD 5.7 million for 2004, and USD 5.65 million for 2005.
In her report, the Project Committee chairperson Ms. Ermina Freytag, North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church, Germany, noted that the committee approved 68 projects with a total financial volume of USD 8.5 million for the period 2003-2005. The amount will go towards 24 projects in Africa (USD 3,399,600), 19 in Asia (USD 1,978,200), 11 from Europe (USD 820,700) and 14 from Latin America (USD 2,375,900). In 2001 the Project Committee approved over USD 9.9 million for 92 projects in the LWF regions. This included more than USD 4.9 million for Africa, USD 1.9 million for Asia, USD 827,300 for Europe and USD 2.9 million for Latin America.
In her report, Freytag said narrowing the gap between the number of projects approved and the level of income, currently averaging at around 80 percent, has been a challenge for DMD. During the period 1998-2002, the Project Committee dealt with about 440 applications. But she underlined “‘the important thing to remember’ – that each project reflects the cries of people for life in communion, for salvation, for peace with justice, and for a liberated creation.” In a given year, DMD carries out about 450 mission, communication and development projects and programs.
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