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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 07.12.2000 |
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| Tenth Assembly theme, a challenge to church’s ministry |
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Voices from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin and North America
GENEVA, 7 December 2000 (LWI) – “For the Healing of the World”, the theme for the Tenth Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) challenges the church’s ministry in a world where irresponsible use of resources has led to the concentration of power in the hands of “only a few countries,” according to Brazilian church leader Rev. Huberto Kirchheim.
Kirchheim is among members of the LWF Executive Committee who spoke to Lutheran World Information (LWI) of their impressions on the theme for the Tenth LWF Assembly that will be hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada in Winnipeg, Canada in 2003. The Committee, chaired by the Federation’s president, Bishop Dr. Christian Krause took the decision on the theme and dates—21 to 31 July 2003—at its November 26 to 27 meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
Kirchheim, an LWF vice-president and head of the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IECLB), said the theme for the next LWF Assembly contains an important element for the work of the Federation and Lutheran churches in the coming years. “I see the aspect of diaconal service as having great significance and as a challenge in a world, which I would say is not whole,” he told LWI .
Kirchheim pointed out that “healing” as implicated in the theme evokes issues of great concern for the church in Brazil and the Latin American region. “When one looks at the whole reality of health among so many people who are also facing myriad problems, one thinks of the basic requirements that are lacking for a healthy life.” The IECLB president added that with this theme, “We will think of healing not only in the sense of sanctification which so quickly becomes a spiritual concept, but of healing in the sense of its root meaning. ”
For LWF vice-president Rev. Dr. Prasanna Kumari, “healing” is a comprehensive term, which addresses the issues of justice and reconciliation. Kumari, from the Arcot Lutheran Church, India, spoke of her own context—India—where people are divided “in the name of caste system, communities, religions and languages.” She said healing against such a background gives hope and the possibility “to overcome the hurdles that divide us.”
Hungarian Bishop Dr. Bela Harmati described “For the Healing of the World” as a “great umbrella theme” under which a lot of sub-themes and problems of the world and churches can be discussed.
The head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary spoke of three levels of concern—within and among churches themselves, at the ecumenical level and the churches in relation to the world. Harmati, who is also chairperson of the LWF Program Committee for Communication Services hoped that meeting in Canada and in the North American atmosphere would be an opportunity for the churches to understand how the different nations, tribes, languages and cultures come together.
From the African region, LWF vice-president Ms. Parmata Ishaya, Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria, described the LWF’s Tenth Assembly theme as appropriate in a region that is confronted with difficult realities. “Weighed down by poverty, poor health conditions, wars, drought and HIV/AIDS, we need the message of hope as we confront these problems,” she told LWI.
However, Ishaya noted that most of the problems in Africa are brought about by the actions of people who know Jesus Christ as healer. She hoped the Assembly process “would be a time of reflection and self-searching, to know whether we have been involved in hurting people by our actions, done or undone, or by our attitude. It would be a time to question whether we also as individuals would be willing to get involved in the healing process of the world.”
Bishop Samson Mushemba of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania said the Tenth Assembly theme reminds Christians as well as non-Christians of the healing power that “brings all to eternal life”, and brings hope to many people experiencing debilitating spiritual and physical difficulties particularly in Africa. “In this age of great achievements in science and technology, people need to be reminded about the healing power, which is found in Jesus Christ,” noted Mushemba who is chairperson of the LWF Program Committee for World Service.
From the North American region, LWF vice-president Bishop H. George Anderson welcomed the concept of “healing” saying it speaks to the “many ways in which our world is structured as well as to the ways in which churches are struggling within their own borders.”
Anderson, who is presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pointed out that when one looks at the issues before the LWF such as relationships between the confessional families, and the ecumenical movement in general, “the question should be how best we can work together for the healing of the world not just by looking at it as organizations but by asking the question, ‘why are we in existence at all and how can we support this larger mission together?’”
“For the Healing of the World” also speaks to the church about globalization according to Anderson. “Is the church only a victim of globalization? Is the church in any way able to find elements in globalization that can be built upon, and at the same time be critical of aspects that relate to the main [Assembly] theme?” the ELCA bishop posed. Whereas the global movement in technology and economics seems to almost dehumanize people as never before, the church should ensure that this process enriches human lives, gives people more opportunities, wider horizons and a better sense of their world than the opposite which seems to be happening in most parts of the world, Anderson added.
According to Bishop Dr. Julius Filo of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Slovak Republic “healing” means renewal in the power of God, looking into the needs and opportunities for our churches, and not only dealing with what happened in the past.
Filo, a vice-president of the LWF said in the Central and Eastern European context, emphasis should not only be on dealing with what happened 50 years ago, which he termed as a “tradition of renewing old traditions”, but also on the renewal of the mission of the church. Filo hoped that the Assembly theme would strengthen the churches in their diaconal work among all needy people regardless of race, culture or religion. He especially mentioned the Roma people in Central and Eastern Europe, saying they need “special attention and loving care. I hope we will be strengthened to help them.” He also hoped that the assembly sub-themes would deal with components such as renewal.
Rev. Susan Nagle, chairperson of the Program Committee for Mission and Development welcomed the LWF’s Tenth Assembly theme saying issues about confession, absolution and reconciliation that are of concern to Canadians can be built in the theme, which she described as having “great richness.”
She said “For the Healing of World” also poses the question, ‘How can the church participate in the healing of the world?’ Nagle, from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is chairperson of the Assembly Planning Committee appointed by the LWF Council last June.
Prof. Joachim Track, chairperson of the Program Committee for Theology and Studies said the theme for the Tenth LWF Assembly allows for many possible interpretations and it is up to the Lutheran community to discern “how we understand it and are challenged by it.” Healing, he said, touches on the whole dimension of living in cooperation with others, as neighbors with other religions and ecumenical partners, and fulfilling our common responsibility.
“For the Healing of the World” according to Track, also challenges the churches to go beyond their diaconal services and ask critical questions about the underlying structures, which might mean causing offence. The theme also questions critically certain ecumenical positions that do not contribute towards healing in the world.
When asked about the contribution of rich countries and churches to the Tenth Assembly theme, Track, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, Germany emphasized participation. From the context of Western Europe, he advocates moving away from “our idea that we are the owners and we have to help the poor and show them the way they must go.”
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