wfn.org | LWF Council theme bears a message of hope now, in the future

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LWF COUNCIL MEETING, TURKU, FINLAND, 14-21 JUNE 2000
PRESS RELEASE NO. 1

TURKU, Finland/GENEVA, 14 June 2000, (LWI) - "I give you a future with
hope", the theme chosen for the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Council
meeting taking place in Turku, Finland, bears a significant message for
the Council host church -- the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
(ELCF) -- especially as it celebrates together with others the Jubilee
Year 2000.

These remarks were made by the Lutheran bishop of Helsinki, Eero
Huovinen, when he addressed a press conference on 13 June a day before
the official opening of the LWF Council meeting taking place from 14 to
21 June in this city, situated some 200 km west of the Finnish capital.
Turku is the seat of the ELCF Archbishop.

Huovinen emphasized that the Lutheran church is not celebrating the
Jubilee Year 2000-adapted from the Jewish tradition, a period in time
set aside to liberate people-alone and for its own sake but for the sake
of the common good together with other churches and non-governmental
organizations. On the Gregorian calendar, the year 2000 marks the 2000th
anniversary of Christ's birth.

In addition, Huovinen said the ELCF is participating in the
international campaign Jubilee 2000 together with various civil society
groups including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), of which the
main focus is to put pressure on creditor governments and leading world
lending institutions to cancel the international debt owed to them by
the world's poorest countries.

On collaboration between the ELCF and the LWF, Bishop Huovinen
identified four priority areas including active participation in the
doctrinal dialogues especially with the Roman Catholic Church, and
described the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of
Justification between the LWF and the Roman Catholic Church on 31
October 1999 in Augsburg, Germany, as a historic achievement on the
ecumenical path.

Other areas of joint collaboration include mission, based on the unique
character of Christian faith and Christ Himself (humanitarian aid,
through which FinnChurchAid, the ELCF's main development and relief
agency works closely with the LWF Department for World Service (DWS) and
Department for Mission and Development (DMD) and human rights and
socio-ethical issues in recognition of the characteristic of the LWF as
an organization that provides a global view on matters revolving around
the well being of the human being.

Bishop of Helsinki since March 1991, Huovinen is the vice-chairperson of
the LWF Standing Committee for Ecumenical Affairs.

At the press conference, Agneta Ucko, the LWF deputy general secretary,
explained how the Federation functions, and pointed to key highlights
for the ongoing Council meeting. These include a decision on the venue
and alongside it host church for the Tenth Assembly of the LWF to be
held either in 2003 or 2004. Invitations to host the next meeting of the
Federation's highest decision-making body have so far been received from
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the North Elbian Evangelical
Lutheran Church and the Evangelical Church in Wuerttemberg, both in
Germany, as well as from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland.
Other issues on the Council agenda include the election of a new
Treasurer, as Ms Sigrund Mogedal, Church of Norway, has resigned from
her post following a State appointment; and the follow up to the Joint
Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.

Meanwhile, the ELCF archbishop, Jukka Paarma, officially welcoming
participants in the LWF Council meeting to Turku, described as "a sign
of hope among us" the joint effort by churches to celebrate the Jubilee
Year 2000, and anticipated "many more signs of hope in the future".
Christian churches in Finland are celebrating the coming of the new
millennium jointly under the theme, "Millennium 2000 - Year of Hope".
The jubilee season began on Advent Sunday 1999 and will end at Easter
2001, when the churches of the Eastern and Western tradition celebrate
Easter on the same day, April 15.

During the Council's opening worship service held in the evening of 13
June at the St. Maaria Church, Paarma said it is a great honor for the
Finnish people to have the LWF among them, recalling that this was not
the first time the Federation was holding a major gathering in Finland.
The Fourth Assembly of the LWF was held in Helsinki in 1963, under the
theme, "Christ Today". In addition, the 1981 Council meeting took place
in Turku. Participants in the 2000 Council will take part in the main
national Millennium celebrations in Turku in conjunction with the 700th
anniversary of the inauguration of the Turku (Lutheran) Cathedral.

The Council's opening worship service focused on the meaning of the
Pentecost Week and the work of the Holy Spirit through Christian
communities and churches, enabling them to carry out God's mission.  The
meeting brings together about 200 participants from all parts of the
world among them the 49-member Council, advisors, ecumenical observers,
the LWF national committees' representatives, consultants, guests, the
ELCF and LWF staff as well as accredited press.

Delivering by the sermon, the bishop of Turku, Ilkka Kantola, emphasized
that the Holy Spirit, is the well of the life of the Church, and that
God makes his teaching work through his people.

The ELCF is one of the founding members of the LWF. Presently with a
membership of 4.4 million, the church with eight dioceses comprises
about 86 percent of Finland's population.

(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 (LWI) 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/