wfn.org | New LWF book on worship and culture

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

Focus on Baptism, rites of passage, and preaching

GENEVA, 31 July 1999, (lwi) - The Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
Department for Theology and Studies (DTS) has published the third book
from its Worship and Culture Study series under the title, Baptism,
Rites of Passage, and Culture.

The study has been underway since 1993 under the leadership of the DTS
Worship Desk, working with a team of scholars and pastors from around
the world. The first book in the series, Worship and Culture in Dialogue
(1994), laid the biblical and historical foundations for the subject,
(especially regarding Baptism and Eucharist), and outlined contemporary
issues to be explored. The second title, Christian Worship: Unity in
Cultural Diversity (1996), explored in detail the subject of the
Eucharist in cultural context.

Edited by the then study director, the Rev. S. Anita Stauffer, the new
278-page book in the study series has international and ecumenical
authorship. It consists of papers delivered at the team's international
consultation in 1998 in Chicago, United Sates of America (USA).

The first section comprises introductory chapters on Baptism and
culture, explaining how and why Baptism is the foundation for all the
Church's rites of human passage. The respective authors are the study
team's resource persons ? the Rev. Dr. Gordon Lathrop (USA) and Fr.
Anscar Chupungco, OSB (Philippines).

A second section focuses on architecture for worship (especially
regarding space for Baptism), with an illustrated analysis of a new
African-American church building in Chicago, which the study team
visited. An introduction is provided by S. Anita Stauffer, with
responses by Karen Ward (USA), Musawenkosi Biyela (South Africa), and
Helena Tallius Myhrman (Sweden).

The sections on rites of passage begin with attention to healing rites,
with chapters on such rites for persons with serious chronic illnesses
in the North American cultural context by Paul Nelson (USA), rites for
terminally ill persons (especially those with AIDS) in the Argentinean
cultural context by Lisandro Orlov (Argentina), healing rites for
persons acutely ill in the Central African cultural context by Markus
Roser (Germany; former missionary to the Central African Republic), and
healing ministries in Madagascar by Peri Rasolondraibe (Madagascar). As
with the other sections on rites of passage, a summary of the
discussions is provided by Marcus Felde (USA, former missionary to Papua
New Guinea).

Funeral rites are the focus of the fourth section. Chapters concentrate
on the South African cultural context by Musawenkosi Biyela, the German
cultural context by Hans Krech, and the Indian cultural context by Adiss
Arnold.

The fifth section of the book is devoted to weddings in various cultural
contexts. It includes chapters by Nils-Henrik Nilsson from Sweden; China
(with a focus on Hong Kong) by Mabel Wu; and various countries in Latin
America by Rolando Holtz, Jose Kowalska, Neli Maske, Victoria Rodriguez,
and John Vera.

Preaching is the final topic covered in the book, with a major chapter
on preaching and culture by Gordon Lathrop, and a response by Oystein
Bjordal (Norway).

Orders for the book, Baptism, Rites of Passage, and Culture, should be
sent to LWF Office for Finance and Administration, Maya Maugue, P. O.
Box 2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland. The publication costs USD 15,
CHF 18 or DEM 20.

(The LWF is a global communion of 128 member churches in 70 countries
representing 58 million of the world's 61.5 million Lutherans. Its
highest decision making body is the Assembly, held every six or seven
years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed by a 49-member Council
which meets annually, and its Executive Committee.)

[Lutheran World Information is the information service of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material presented
does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various
units. Where the dateline of an article contains the notation (lwi), the
material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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