wfn.org | Argentina: Churches Say Economic Crisis Affects Familiar Names and

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

Faces
Financial and Pastoral Impact on Congregations

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina/GENEVA, 16 January 2002 (LWI) - In the
wake of their country's worst economic crisis in decades, Lutheran
churches in Argentina are calling on their partners abroad to
accompany them as they grapple with a catastrophe marked not
merely by "cold statistical numbers" but by familiar "names and
faces."

"Our small, poor congregations on the outskirts of greater Buenos
Aires and further inland are manifesting great ability to put up
with abuses and struggling to find non-violent empowering outlets
for their energies," pastors Pedro Schaad and Juan Abelardo
Schvindt, president and general secretary respectively of the
Evangelical Church of the River Plate - Iglesia Evangelica del Rio
de la Plata - (IERP), state in a January 10 letter of appeal
titled "Argentina: Strengthening Faith for Liberating Action."

Over the years Argentina has sunk into a deep recession resulting
from its position in the global market and collaboration with some
transnational companies that together with local accomplices
encouraged corruption, the United Evangelical Lutheran Church -
Iglesia Evangelica Luterana Unida - (IELU) says in a January 12
letter to "Our Companions on the Way" signed by its executive
secretary, Roberto O. Stein.

The present situation is a major challenge for the IELU
institutionally and pastorally. In the short term the church
cannot honor its financial obligations although it has sufficient
funds. Membership in the majority of its missions and new
congregations comprises poor families with very low incomes, which
in the present economic crisis have diminished or been totally
lost. "This is a great challenge not only for the IELU but also
for its companions on the way in the countries of the North,"
Stein notes.

Argentina is in its fourth year of a serious recession, mainly
resulting from its USD 1.3 billion per month servicing of a USD
132 billion external debt. Riots over escalating prices for food
and other basic goods were followed by looting of stores in
December with rioters targeting banks and automatic cash
dispensers early January. New President Eduardo Duhalde is the
fifth in a row after Fernado de la Rua's December 21 resignation
amidst protests that led to 28 deaths and over 1,000 injuries. A
measure by the present government to tighten control on bank
accounts has put most people's savings out of reach in the short
term. Generally there is anxiety as a major currency devaluation
threatens inflation.

Stein points out that economic life is intended to be a means
through which God's purpose for humankind and creation should be
served. When this does not happen, "as a church we cannot remain
silent because of who we are," he adds.

To be Christ's witnesses in a situation like Argentina's also
calls on churches to critique any social and political systems,
taking into account that human impoverishment, excessive
accumulation of wealth, greed-driven consumerism, gross economic
disparities and the degradation of nature are incompatible with
God's kingdom.

As members of a "communion" of churches representing countries in
the North and South, the rich and poor are called into
relationships of generosity from which each can benefit, Stein
stresses. He points out that in the past the IELU's partnerships
have grown and become strengthened through getting to know each
other, visitation and personal relations among other forms of
collaboration.

Schaad and Schvindt describe the massive and spontaneous outbreaks
of violence in the recent past as an "expression of the anger and
indignation" of the population in attempts to set limits on the
activities of incompetent and corrupt politicians, greedy
corporations and financial institutions. They affirm the church's
mission to support people in their hope for a more just world
based on solidarity.

The IERP representatives support the concept of empowering faith
communities to become places of refuge that provide "space for
personal transformation through faith in the God who suffers with
yet redeems his people."

In a December 21 letter to the IERP and IELU, the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) expressed willingness to accompany its
Argentinean member churches in the present crisis. The
47,000-member IERP joined the LWF in 1991. The IELU with 7,000
members has been a member of the Federation since 1951.

(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 acknowledgment.]

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