wfn.org | Task Force to Explore Understanding of LWF as a Communion

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@ELCA.ORG>]

Aspects Relating to Possible Name Change of Federation

GENEVA, 18 July 2001 (LWI) - The Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
Council, at its 12-19 June meeting, mandated the LWF general secretary
to appoint a task force to explore how, based on work that has already
been done, the understanding and appreciation of what it means to be a
communion can be deepened and strengthened among the member churches.

The task force, which would consist of Council members and LWF staff,
would also explore various aspects related to a possible name change of
the federation that might better express the current nature of the LWF
as a communion.

Acting on recommendations presented before it by Archbishop K. G.
Hammar, chairperson, Standing Committee for Ecumenical Affairs, the
Council also agreed that the task force would explore the possibilities
related to the holding of joint or coordinated assemblies together with
other Christian world communions in the context of the assemblies of the
World Council of Churches (WCC), to which many of the LWF churches also
belong. It would also deal with possible changes needed in the
respective decision-making bodies and in the spacing of their meetings,
and present a report to the 2002 meeting.

The Council received a report of an LWF task force on the follow-up of
the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JD), signed by
the LWF and Roman Catholic Church on 31 October 1999. The task force,
which met in January 2001, examined the overall picture of the follow-up
process as it relates to the LWF.

The Council requested that the ecumenical significance of the agreements
reached in the JD follow-up process be pursued further by LWF units and
the Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, France. It also
encouraged that the process of reception be promoted in all ways
possible in the member churches.

In other actions, the Council approved that the "Charta Oecumenica,"
signed by the Conference of European Churches and Council of European
(Catholic) Bishops' Conferences in April 2001 be sent to the LWF member
churches for study. The ecumenical charter is a set of guidelines that
seeks to promote cooperation among churches in Europe.

The Council also received a report of the Lutheran Foundation for
Interconfessional Research (LFIR) and emphasized the importance of the
continued work of the Strasbourg institute, established by the
foundation, within the LWF. The 2003 Tenth LWF Assembly in Winnipeg,
Canada will provide an occasion to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the
LFIR, established at the Fourth LWF Assembly in Helsinki, Finland in
1963.

On theology and ecumenism in the LWF, the Council asked the general
secretary in future planning to pay particular attention to how the role
of theology and ecumenism in the life of the federation can best be
supported and furthered. A financial plan of action for the Department
for Theology and Studies, Office for Ecumenical Affairs and the
Strasbourg institute would be presented at the 2002 Council meeting.
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(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 73 countries representing over 60.5 million of the 64.3
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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