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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 18.12.2001 |
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| LWF Tenth Assembly Writing Team Begins Work |
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Implications of "For the Healing of the World"
GENEVA, 18 December 2001 (LWI) - A group of Lutheran theologians invited to write on the biblical texts and “Village Group” topics for the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Tenth Assembly began their work at a first meeting here November 22-27.
The Writing Team discussed, planned and began working together on the various texts that will eventually become the LWF Tenth Assembly Study Book that will be used by member churches as they prepare for the next assembly, focussing on the theme, “For the Healing of the World.” The publication serves as the basic resource for the programmatic content of the assembly, which will meet 21-31 July 2003 in Winnipeg, Canada.
The Assembly, comprising representatives of each of the LWF member churches, is the Federation’s highest decision-making body, meeting normally every six years. The Ninth Assembly took place in Hong Kong, China in 1997 under the theme, “In Christ - Called to Witness.”
At their first meeting the twelve writers from the different regions of the Lutheran communion explored together with staff the varied meanings and implications of the Tenth Assembly theme.
It was acknowledged that this is a challenging theme, which is likely to make some Lutherans nervous. “As Lutherans, we see ourselves as pastors, not as healers,” said Paul Isaak, a professor of theology and ethics at the University of Namibia.
For many people, the theme evokes the literal meaning of “healing.” “Healing is a topic that was imposed on me in my pastoral work as bishop. We need to hear what people are crying for. We have to address the healing ministry of Jesus Christ,” said Manas Buthelezi, former bishop of the Central Diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa.
“Healing is a topic we as Lutherans have lost sight of; we need to pay more attention to the body,” declared German theologian Christoffer Grundmann, currently a professor of religion and the healing arts at Valparaiso University in the United States of America.
Other writers emphasized the metaphorical meanings of “healing”—related to the social, economic and political disparities and wounds in the world. “The individual and social dimensions of this theme must be kept in tension with each other,” stressed Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, a theological ethicist from the USA. This will occur especially through Assembly village group foci: “God’s Healing Gift of Justification,” “Removing Barriers that Exclude,” “Restoring Persons to Wholeness,” “Overcoming Violence,” “Justice and Healing in Families,” “Transforming Economic Globalization” and “Healing Creation.”
There are ten Assembly Village Groups, each focusing on specific elements of the theme. The groups will be the place for Bible study discussions, reflections on the theological substance of the LWF as a communion of churches, and consideration for the various aspects of the Federation’s work.
Tiit Pädam, director, Theological Institute of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, who is also a member of the LWF Tenth Assembly Planning Committee, suggested the theme could build upon previous assembly themes, and deepen theological thinking within the communion.
Healing also has particular relevance for the church as indicated by village groups focused on “God’s Healing Gift of Communion,” “The Healing Mission of the Church in Multi-Faith Contexts,” and “Healing Divisions within the One Church.”
Healing is one of the dimensions of salvation. Guillermo Hansen from Argentina pointed out that “justification brings us back to creation in a new way.” Furthermore, “in considering the oneness of the church, we need to give attention to local dialogues and experiences in the regions, with different models of unity, including unity that grows out of diaconia.”
The group was reminded by Assembly Coordinator Arthur Leichnitz that the theme is “For the healing of the world.” Healing implies not only restoring wellbeing, but a wholeness or newness that God will effect in the future.
Writing team members concurred that healing must be distinguished from curing. “As a person with disabilities, I am healed; I don’t want to be cured. I believe in a disabled God, in a God who promises to be with us in our bodies as we are,” said Brazilian pastor Iara Müller. Inspired by a theology of the cross, the group talked about how pain would not be necessarily taken away. In healing people come to terms with their lives as they are. Turid Karlsen Seim, New Testament professor at the University of Oslo, Norway reminded the group that Jesus, when tempted, chose “not the miraculous road, but a stony road.”
The five biblical scholars on the team, focusing on worship and Bible study, will write on two texts for each Assembly day related to the different daily emphases which together constitute an overall prayer.
“In writing, I will be asking what kind of healing is going on in a text, and what are the means of healing,” said Norman Habel from Australia. Some of the texts are more problematic or ambiguous when it comes to the healing theme, but are likely to open up exciting cross-cultural discussion.
Barbara Rossing, New Testament professor at the Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago, USA, emphasized the radical vision in the Revelation texts with God coming to dwell with us and all of creation, rather than our being raptured into heaven. “New Jerusalem contrasts with the Roman Empire and all its injustices, including through economic globalization today. The Garden of Eden is recreated in the center of a city.” Its vivid imagery of trees and rivers is likely to figure prominently when the Assembly gathers in Winnipeg, she said.
Anastasia Malle, who has been teaching Old Testament at Makumira University College, Tanzania, pointed out that in some of the Isaiah texts, salvation is clearly tied to creation. “We need to help people participate in these rich images.”
In dealing with a text from the first part of Exodus, Monica Melanchthon, a professor of Old Testament and Women’s Studies at Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, India, noted that there were many people and strategies involved in God’s liberating action, beginning with the midwives.
Many of the Assembly texts will be narratives from Luke’s Gospel. Turid Karlsen Seim, who will write on these texts, pointed out that the different forms of healing portrayed play a certain role in convincing and generating controversies that are normally not resolved but invoke responses. “As the texts speak for themselves, they will transform us,” noted Buthelezi.
Some of the LWF staff persons also met with the group to help relate the Assembly Study Book content with the Federation’s ongoing and projected work. “We are excited about developing a volume that will engage experiences of member churches, catalyze good discussion in relation to the Assembly, and provide the basis for new LWF commitments,” observed Karen Bloomquist, director of the LWF Department for Theology and Studies, who as Assembly Content Coordinator will serve as overall editor for the publication.
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