From the Worldwide Faith News archives www.wfn.org


LWF News in brief


From FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org
Date 23 Dec 1999 05:27:43

Reply-to: FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org

 
* Dialogue between Lutherans and Roman Catholics continues. After the signing
of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification in Augsburg on
October 31, 1999, Lutherans and Roman Catholics want to further deepen their
ecumenical relations. After his private audience with Pope John Paul II on 9
December 1999 in Rome, Bishop Dr. Christian Krause, President of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF) declared that he will accept the invitation by the
Catholic Church and participate in an ecumenical worship service on 18 January
2000 in Rome at the occasion of the opening of the annual Week of Prayer for
Christian Unity. The emphasis is put on the "ecumenical character of the
Millennium" and the "joint proclamation of the Year of Christ 2000". Other
participants in this service will include the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader
of the Church of England, the President of the World Methodist Council, and
representatives of the Orthodox Churches. On 10 December 1999, representatives
of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) and of the LWF
agreed to continue the dialogue on still unresolved theological questions in
relation to the Joint Declaration. Bishop Krause's personal assistant Rev.
Dieter Rammler declared after the meeting that there was great willingness on
both sides to draw pastoral consequences from Augsburg. Still unresolved is
the question of the common understanding of the ordained ministry as well as
the sharing of the Eucharist. 
 
* Bishop of Bavarian church installed. On 21 November 1999 Dr. Johannes
Friedrich was installed in his office as Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Bavaria. During the occasion celebrated in a special service at
Nuremberg's St. Lawrence Church, Friedrich told the congregation of 1,400
representatives from church, politics and society that Germany was a "rich
country" and as a consequence had obligations towards poorer countries. The 51
year-old bishop studied Protestant theology at Erlangen and Tübingen
universities. From 1972 to 1976 he was Assistant to Tübingen's Professorial
Chair for New Testament. Ordained in 1977, Friedrich took up pastoral duties
in Nuremberg, and served as Dean of the German-Speaking Evangelical
Congregation in Jerusalem. In 1991, Friedrich took up the office of City Dean
of the Nuremberg Church District, which has about 200,000 Lutheran members.
Friedrich succeeds Hermann von Loewenich, who retired on 31 October 1999. More
than 2.7 million Lutherans belong to the Bavarian church. 
 
* Martin-Luther Award for young academics. The German Luther Society
(Luther-Gesellschaft e.V.) has announced that it will bestow again the
Martin-Luther Prize on an outstanding doctoral or habilitation thesis in fall
2002. The 10,000-DM award aims at promoting Luther research in different
scholarly fields. Two one-year Martin-Luther scholarships will also be awarded
for the years 2000/01 and 2001/02; doctoral candidates and graduates admitted
for habilitation can apply for these till 1 April 2000 or 31 March 2001
respectively. The deadline for the Martin-Luther Award is 1 March 2002.
Applications should be sent to: Geschäftsstelle der Luther-Gesellschaft e.V.,
Krochmannstr. 37, D-22299 Hamburg, Germany.  
 
* New Secretary General for German Protestant Church's 'Kirchentag'. In the
spring 2000, Friederike Woldt will succeed Margot Kässmann as the Secretary
General of the German Protestant Church Conference, 'Kirchentag'. Born in
Leipzig, the 44-year-old theologian was elected to her new position on 21
October 1999. She is the minister of a congregation in Kreischa, near Dresden,
Saxony, and is active in hospital ministry. Since 1993, Woldt has worked for
the churches' 'Kirchentag' on a voluntary basis. Between 1994 and 1997, Woldt
was part of the team of editors preparing the joint social statement of the
Protestant and Roman-Catholic churches in Germany. Kässmann, her predecessor
at the Kirchentag, was installed bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Hanover in September this year.  
 
* Candles of Hope to be lit on New Year's Eve in Finland. The new millennium
will be met in Finland with burning candles of hope and ringing of church
bells. Churches will celebrate the year 2000 ecumenically under the theme,
Millennium 2000 - Year of Hope. Their common goals include support for the
Jubilee 2000 campaign for the cancellation of debt in poor countries. A
majority of Lutheran parishes will also increase their contribution to church
development work at the request of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
(ELCF) Bishops' Conference. In order to realize the message of hope in the
millennium year, the ELCF has made available 10 million Finnish Marks (USD 2.5
million) in special funds to be used for assisting marginalized persons,
especially the youth. About 85 percent of Finns belong to the ELCF.  
 
* Bread for the World has new Director. From 1 January 2000
Cornelia-Füllkrug-Weitzel becomes be the first woman Director of German aid
agency, Bread for the World. The Protestant pastor from Bad Homburg, Germany
has been deputy head of the Berliner Missionswerk. Previously she was
responsible for the Human Rights desk of the Church Office of the Evangelical
Church in Germany (EKD). Füllkrug-Weitzel believes that the church's
development work has a component of mission and is a way of promoting the
Gospel. Recently in Germany on the first Sunday of Advent, the 41st Bread for
the World campaign was launched in Brunswick, under the motto, Give children a
chance. Every year the agency collects DM 120 million in donations. 
 
*       *       * 
 
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. The LWF secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland. 
 
*       *       * 
Lutheran World Information 
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia 
E-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org 
http://www.lutheranworld.org/ 


Browse month . . . Browse month (sort by Source) . . . Advanced Search & Browse . . . WFN Home