wfn.org | LWF Council Will Meet in Jerusalem in 2002

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

'A Sign of Solidarity,' Says Palestinian Bishop

GENEVA, 20 June 2001 (LWI) - The 2002 meeting of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) Council will be held in Jerusalem, September 10-17, hosted
by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (ELCJ).

The LWF Executive Committee which normally meets twice a year, before the
full Council begins and toward the end of the year, will hold its 2002
meeting September 8-9.

Council members at their June 12-19 meeting here unanimously voted for the
Holy Land next year, the same venue they originally had decided on for this
year's meeting which had to be moved to Geneva because of the conflict
situation in Israel/Palestine. The theme for this meeting was "The Church:
Called to a Ministry of Reconciliation."

In scheduling the meeting for September it was noted that important
decisions regarding the Tenth Assembly would have to be taken at next year's
meeting; also considered was the time required for Assembly and Council
preparations. The Tenth LWF Assembly will take place in Winnipeg, Canada, 21
to 31 July 2003. LWF Council meetings normally take place in June.

ELCJ Bishop Munib A. Younan welcomed the decision saying the Council had
given a sign of solidarity and indicated seriousness "about giving full
support to smaller churches" that are suffering. "It also is a sign that
Christianity may have a future in the Middle East," he added.

"We don't want to weaken our determination, we want to come to Jerusalem,"
LWF President Bishop Dr. Christian Krause said.

In his opening address to the Council, Krause said he regretted that the
2001 meeting could not be held in Bethlehem/Jerusalem as originally had been
decided. "Our Lutheran sister church on the West bank of the Jordan had
invited us and we should have been all too glad to take up the invitation,"
he noted.

Similar sentiments were expressed by Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko, LWF general
secretary in his introductory remarks to the 49-member Council. To have met
in Bethlehem/Jerusalem, both historic places, would have been an opportunity
to listen to the "'Living Stones of the Holy Land'" and discern what it
means to be 'The Church: Called to a Ministry of Reconciliation' in such a
volatile situation. It would have been an occasion to strengthen and deepen
"the bonds of fellowship (koinonia) and solidarity with the ELCJ and the
ecumenical family in Palestine and Israel," he added.

Notwithstanding the change of venue, the Council agenda was compiled in such
a way that the theme proposed by the ELCJ was kept in focus. On June 17,
Bishop Younan preached during the worship service held at the Ecumenical
Center here , where the LWF secretariat is located. On the afternoon of the
same day, a seminar on "Justice and Peace in the Middle East" was an
opportunity for participants to hear the perspective of two mothers, one
Israeli, the other Palestinian, two Palestinian youth, and also from a
former member of a human rights inquiry established by the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights to investigate violations of human rights and
humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territories.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 133** member
churches in 72 countries representing over 60.2 million of the nearly 64
million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches
in areas of common interest such as ecumenical relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various
aspects of mission and development work. Its 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 acknowledgement.]

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