wfn.org | LWF Consultation on Churches in Mission held in Nairobi

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

Into the Third Millennium: Together in God's Mission

NAIROBI, Kenya/GENEVA, 2 November 1998 (lwi) - Marking Reformation Sunday,
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Consultation on Churches in Mission
began its week of work with a lively Eucharist worship service, led by
Bishop Zachariah Kahuthu of the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church, on the
theme "Celebrating the vision we have as Lutheran Christians in our mission
to the world."

In his welcoming remarks, the LWF Department for Mission and Development
director, Peri Rasolondraibe, also brought greetings from the LWF general
secretary, Ishmael Noko.

The LWF general secretary asked the 77 participants in the Nairobi
consultation to bear in mind the following three factors: the LWF's
contribution to the church's efforts in participating in God's mission to
all creation; that this was the last consultation of its kind this century
convening participants from member churches, mission societies and
development agencies, together with LWF staff from the Departments for
World Service, Theology and Studies and Mission and Development; and what
posterity would say of the outcome of the Nairobi meeting.

Underscoring the theme, "Into the Third Millennium: Together in God's
Mission," Rasolondraibe reminded the participants of the consultation's
objectives. These are: to engage in theological study of mission from a
holistic perspective, taking into account the challenges of the
twenty-first century and the LWF Ninth Assembly in Hong Kong in July 1997;
to discuss partnership and relational issues between and among all partners
concerned; and, to exchange information and experience on new and creative
ways of doing mission.

Based on the consultation theme, keynote addresses presenting North and
South perspectives were delivered by Eila Helander from Finland and
Malaysian theologian, Thu En Yu, respectively.

In her presentation, drawing on studies concerning, inter alia, the concept
of God and service attendance in the Nordic countries, Helander noted that
as far as Western countries are concerned, there is an ambivalent picture
of the religious scene. On the one hand, there is a decline in interest in
the church and in what it represents. On the other, people are showing an
increased interest in religion.

Only one third of the world's population are Christians, and almost
two-thirds of these are found in the South, where the church is growing
rapidly, she noted. In Europe, where the fall of communist regimes and new
religious freedom have given Christians in Russia and central and eastern
European countries more opportunities to practice their faith, there has
been striking change.

She argued that low church attendance, despite high church membership, in
Finland for example, does not so much indicate a lack of religiosity as a
change in the form of religion. Modernization, she recalled, has also
generated secularization.

The professor of theology at the University of Helsinki observed that
people pick and choose religious material from culturally and
confessionally diversified sources, a typical result of the post-modern
values of novelty, rapid change, individual enjoyment and consumer choice.
Thus it is not surprising that societies in Europe, particularly in big
cities, are becoming multireligious and multicultural.

Globalization, which is a direct consequence of modernization according to
Helander, should not be taken for granted. It is a force the church has to
recognize and react to, if the church is going to be true to its calling.

Helander pointed out that people do have spiritual needs, which they seek
to satisfy. It is the mission of the Christian church to minister to these
needs in such a way that the gospel can be both understood and received by
the people of our time.

Noting the declining growth of the traditional Christian church in the
West, Helander had a challenge for churches in the South, where the church
seems to be strong. "I leave it to the Southern churches themselves to
assess to what extent they have moved towards taking on the role of a giver
in relation to their Northern partners," she said, as she reminded members
of the Church of Christ to uphold the one task which no other institution
can perform: proclaim the gospel and make people Christ's disciples. Faith
is a living reality, this fact has not changed, she said.

Presenting an Asian perspective, Thu En Yu from Malaysia was of the opinion
that in the third millennium it is timely for the church to do some serious
soul searching with the aim of equipping Christians to march confidently
into the future.

Situating Asian mission in a multifaceted context that includes
urbanization, ecology and environment, international migration and
political restructuring, he noted that to understand the mission of the
Asian church in the third millennium, one has to take into account that
two-thirds of the world's people live in the region, yet Christians there
constitute only seven percent of the population.

The Malaysian theologian noted that if Christianity is to take root in Asia
and be acceptable to all, the gospel message must have significance to all
people. To this end he challenged the Asian churches to undertake extensive
theological reconstruction, seeking the meaning of the relation between
Christ and Asian religions.

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Lutheran World Information
Editorial Assistant: Janet Bond-Nash
E-mail: jbn@lutheranworld.org
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