wfn.org | News in brief

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

 ... Australian World Service launches Christmas appeal. Australian
Lutheran World Service (ALWS) has launched its annual Christmas Action
Appeal across the congregations and schools of the Lutheran Church of
Australia (LCA). Those who will be assisted through the funds raised by
the appeal were at one time or another forced to flee their homes, and
often their countries, in fear of their lives, either because of war or
persecution. Giving stories of individual refugees in Kenya, Mozambique
and Cambodia, ALWS notes that this is an experience that was common with
Jesus. "He too was a refugee, forced to flee to another country under the
threat of death at the hands of King Herod's soldiers," a message from
ALWS says. It adds that the gifts to the Christmas appeal will help to
alleviate the indignity of poverty and forced movement experienced by so
many people today.

 ... Topical references in Luther's theology. Martin Luther's works are
not only interesting in theological and historical terms, but also contain
topical references. This emerged from a two-day symposium for teachers and
students at the Evangelical Theological Faculty of the Comenius University
in Bratislava, Slovak Republic. Invited guests from abroad such as the
theology professor Gunter Wenz (Munich, Germany) presented papers on "The
relations between church and state in the pluralistic society according to
Reformation teaching" and the Hamburg theologian Andreas Pawlas on
"Luther's contribution to entrepreneurial ethics."

 ... Bible for tourists in Rome. For the "Holy Year" 2000 Protestants and
Roman Catholics will jointly distribute biblical texts in a modern
translation to tourists. The general committee of the Federation of
Protestant Churches in Italy has now decided to support this initiative
already started by the Roman Catholic church. As preparation for the year
2000, the Roman Catholic Church has already distributed a million copies
each of the gospel according to St. Mark and the Book of Acts to Roman
households.

 ... Wurttemberg circle of friends supports Bossey Institute The
initiative for the promotion of ecumenical thinking and acting "Pro
Okumene" in Wurttemberg (Germany) has founded a Bossey "circle of
friends". In so doing it wishes to communicate ecumenical learning
experiences back to Germany, promote the courses offered at the Institute
and support funding. The college in Bossey near Geneva was founded in 1950
and offers ecumenical training to theologians worldwide. Recently, the
synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) decided to stop its
subsidy to Bossey which in 1997 amounted to about 200,000 CHF.

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/