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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 20.09.2001 |
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| Canadian Pastor Arthur Leichnitz is LWF Tenth Assembly Coordinator |
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Preparations Already Underway
GENEVA, 20 September 2001 (LWI) – As preparations for the Tenth Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) proceed, LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko has announced the appointment of Rev. Arthur Leichnitz as Assembly Coordinator. The assembly will be held in Winnipeg, Canada, 21-31 July 2003 under the theme “For the Healing of the World.”
Leichnitz, currently LWF Regional Expression Officer for North America is working as Assembly Coordinator on a part-time basis September-December 2001. He will assume the position full-time on 1 January 2002 for a two-year period. The Geneva Assembly Office is staffed by two persons, the coordinator and an administrative assistant.
A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Leichnitz, 52, is a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), host church of the upcoming assembly. He is the first person to serve as Regional Expression Officer for the LWF North American office, located at the churchwide office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Chicago. Established in 1998 as a program of regional expression of communion within the LWF, the office is overseen by a regional committee that includes representatives of the ELCIC, ELCA and LWF Department for Mission and Development.
Ordained in 1982, Leichnitz has served in parish ministry in Winnipeg, as Lutheran campus pastor at the University of Manitoba and synod facilitator for youth ministries. Leichnitz has served the ELCIC in various other capacities including as a member of the National Church Council, chairing the national youth ministry committee and leadership in planning several national youth gatherings. As regional officer Leichnitz has participated in various LWF gatherings including the annual Council meetings, pre-Council church visitations, consultations in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe, and has worked regularly at the federation’s Geneva secretariat.
Leichnitz graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Carleton University in 1970 and worked as a systems engineer with IBM Canada. He studied theology at St. Paul University, Ottawa and at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, graduating with a Master of Divinity Degree in 1980. He received a Master of Sacred Theology Degree from the University of Winnipeg in 1988 with specialization in marriage and family pastoral counseling.
The Assembly Coordinator discharges his responsibilities under the supervision of the General Secretary. An Assembly Planning Committee, appointed by the LWF Council oversees Assembly preparations.
Ms Yvonne Dahlin from the Church of Sweden served as Assembly Coordinator for the LWF Ninth Assembly held in Hong Kong, China 8-16 July 1997 under the theme “In Christ—Called to Witness.”
The Tenth Assembly will be the second gathering of the federation’s highest decision-making body in North America since the LWF’s founding in 1947. In 1957, the various Lutheran churches represented in the then National Lutheran Council in the USA hosted the LWF Third Assembly in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its theme was “Christ Frees and Unites.”
Lutheran World Information (LWI) will continue to provide news and information on the LWF Tenth Assembly preparations.
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