Africa: Re-ignite hope for social transformation

The African churches, witnessing in contexts where ethnic and tribal diversity is seen as both a challenge and an asset, can offer an encouraging example of how to live in unity, despite differences. “This can be a powerful sign in today’s world, where people tend to look more at what divides than what unites them.”

“We understand hope as the experience of God’s Spirit that compels us to bridge the gap between the all-encompassing peace and justice God has promised and the reality of the world,” said General Secretary Burghardt. “Hope unites,” she added, “creating solidarity in expectation and action.”

“Bring hope to the hopeless”

Our “world consists of fragmented bodies, societies, and ecosystems,” said Bishop Naledzani Sikhwari in her address on the theme of the Assembly.

“The Body of Christ is the Christian church all over the world, that transcends beyond race, ethnicity, and gender,” she added. “The body is diverse according to culture, gender, language, skills, and citizenship. Diversity is necessary for a healthy body.”

However, when “individual bodies are attacked, defaced, desecrated and demoralized, the larger community suffers.” Racism “is a thorn in the Body of Christ, and gender-based violence dismembers the Body of Christ.”

Against this and other injustices, the church should “bring hope to the hopeless.” The church is "a sign of hope in the midst of God’s creation as it participates in God’s holistic mission.” It should be “strong in challenging the inequalities and injustices that break down and cause harm to the Body of Christ.” It is the church’s responsibility to “re-ignite the hope as the engine for social transformation,” added Bishop Sikhwari.

“Loving God cannot be measured,” she said, “but will be seen when we treat each other with dignity and pursue justice.”

The calling of the global communion of Lutheran churches is “to spread love by showing up in the communities that have given up in life, the poor, those battered because of their gender – LWF member churches becoming the voice of the voiceless.”

The Thirteenth Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation takes place 13-19 September 2023 in Krakow, Poland. The theme of the Assembly will be "One Body, One Spirit, One Hope." It will be hosted by the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland.