“Fear not! There is good news!”
(LWI) - The first regional Leadership Conference (COL) after The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Thirteenth Assembly in September 2023 will take place in São Leopoldo, Brazil, next week. From 15 to 19 April, participants from the Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America regions will meet under the theme “Fear not! There is good news!”.
The conference brings together Church leaders, youth and women, representatives of theological education institutions, Council members and partners from the two regions. It will be hosted by the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IELCB), which commemorates the anniversary of 200 years of Lutheran presence in the country.
“With the conference theme, we want to take up the Hope-aspect of the Assembly theme once more and combine it with the good news brought to the shepherds by the angels in the Christmas gospel by Luke,” explained Rev. Sonia Skupch, LWF Regional Secretary for Latin America, the Caribbean and North America.
“Together, we want to explore the relationship between fear and hope in the Bible, God’s promise and God’s covenant with his people in our times, and the contribution of Lutheran theology can make to that,” added Skupch. “We want to be inspired and encourage one another in our mission as churches to be spaces where fear gives way to hope and where churches are invited to be heralds of Good News.”
Another focus of the meeting is getting to know the host church and its fields of work through presentations, visits, and fellowship. Visits to the training institute Faculdades EST and the Gender and Religion Program (Programa de Género y Religión) of its Sustainability Institute (InS) are also part of the agenda.
Before COL, the regions’ youth and women’s networks will meet on 14 April to discuss and develop priorities for their work in the coming years.
