wfn.org | LWI News in Briefs 1 2002

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

Bishop Maria Jepsen: North Elbian Church Has Strengthened

Germany's North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church has grown
stronger since its founding 25 years ago, according to Hamburg
Bishop Maria Jepsen, chairperson of the church's governing board.
The church celebrated its silver jubilee in January. Jepsen cited
the successful joining of the formerly independent regional
churches of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Luebeck, Eutin and
Hamburg church district. A feeling of identity with the North
Elbian region has evolved, she noted. But she regretted a decline
in membership. At its founding on 9 January 1977, the same year in
which it joined the LWF, the church had three million members,
since reduced to 2.3 million. But Jepsen considers the 8,000 new
adherents annually as a reason for hope. Compared with the
2,000-year history of Christianity, 25 years is only a "short
time," she said, but long enough to try out new models of
organization and establish traditions. The North Elbian church
should continually renew itself through its structures as well as
in expressions of faith and piety, she added.

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Babba Succeeds Windibiziri in Nigerian Church

Rev. Nemuel Babba is the new archbishop of the Lutheran Church of
Christ in Nigeria (LCCN). Elected February 1, Babba, from the Todi
Diocese, succeeds Rev. Dr. David Windibiziri who will retire at
the end of February. The LCCN joined the LWF in 1961. It has
720,000 members.

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New Bishop for Jeypore in Orissa, India

Rev. Anam Chandra Khosla is the new bishop of the Jeypore
Evangelical Lutheran Church in India's Orissa region. He succeeds
Bishop Purno H. P. Channappa. The 140,000-member church joined the
LWF in 1950.

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Call for Better Distribution of Employment and Capital in Germany

The Council chairperson of the Protestant Church in Germany -
Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD), Praeses Manfred Kock,
has called for better distribution of employment and capital in
the Federal Republic of Germany. "In a country in which total
earnings during the last year were higher than they have ever
been, I would expect to see a more just distribution playing a
role," Kock said in an interview with the Protestant press service
- Evangelischer Pressedienst (epd) during the Synod of the
Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, of which he is also
president. This point cannot be "side stepped by anybody who
accepts the claim that we are living in a society based on values"
he noted. Businesses too, should realize that they have an
obligation to combat unemployment, Kock said. The success of
economic activity, he continued, should not be measured only in
terms of turnover and earnings, but also by its answer to the
question: "What has this done for humankind?" Whether Germany's
unemployment rate-at a national average of 10.4 percent-can be
lowered has to do with the "lack of a clear sense of
responsibility on the part of those who have money and fortunes at
their disposal," he said. Politics, according to Kock should be
expected to create the basic conditions for a sustained reduction
of unemployment rates.

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Czech Churches Challenge Controversial Law

Churches in the Czech Republic are challenging a controversial new
law that they claim restricts religious activities, comparing it
to controls placed on religion under communist rule. Under the
law, which went into effect on January 7, government officials
have jurisdiction over the opening of places of worship and the
establishment of religious communities. The legislation, enacted
two years after the fall of communist rule in 1989 also requires
churches to use income from their activities solely for
religious-not civil or social-purposes. Among other things, the
law obliges church charities to re-register as taxable civic
enterprises. "What we're seeing is a return to the communist era,"
said Nadeje Mandysova, secretary-general of the Czech Ecumenical
Council, which groups 11 Protestant and Orthodox denominations.
The council was scheduled to meet with Roman Catholic leaders to
finalize the wording of a joint appeal they planned to lodge with
the Constitutional Court.

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Churches Call for Participation in Employees' Committee Elections

The two largest churches in Germany have urged employees to take
part in employees' committee elections, to be held between March 1
and May 31. Globalization and the pressure of competition, and the
resulting upheaval in the world of work, underline the importance
of these elections, stated Praeses Manfred Kock, Council
chairperson of the Protestant Church in Germany - Evangelische
Kirche in Deutschland (EKD) and Cardinal Karl Lehmann, president
of the (Roman Catholic) German Bishops' Conference in January.
Kock and Lehmann encouraged workers to stand for election
themselves: "Particularly in firms where employees have never had
representation, you should elect works committees." The churches,
Kock and Lehmann further stated, have long been concerned with
labor relations, together with individual Christians, and do all
they can to promote solidarity and justice in the working place.
As examples, they cited concern over more flexible working hours
and conditions, keeping Sunday as a day of rest, and the
establishment of written agreements between employers and
employees' committees.

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Indonesian Churches Assist Flood Victims

Churches and relief agencies provided food, water and clothes to
victims of severe flooding after torrential rains in the
Indonesian capital Jakarta toward the end of January. Indonesia
and Yaysa Tanggul Bencana - PGI (Communion of Churches in
Indonesia), the Jakarta Regional Communion of Churches and Church
World Service (CWS) - Indonesia provided emergency assistance to
people displaced by the flooding in seven of the worst hit areas
in Jakarta. The churches are members of Action by Churches
Together (ACT), a global network of churches and related agencies
providing humanitarian assistance during emergency. ACT is based
with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and World Council of
Churches. Tens of thousands of people were forced to leave their
homes, seeking refuge in schools, office buildings, temporary
shelters and places of worship. Residential, industrial and
business areas all reported extensive damage to property.
Thousands of acres of rice fields, ready to be harvested, were
flooded. CWS - Indonesia's response also included non-food items
such as containers for mineral water, medical kits, stoves and
plastic sheeting for 2,077 households in western Jakarta. Central
and local governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations
and foreign embassies were among those that provided assistance.

*       *       *

Tribute to Jan Kok's Ecumenical Commitment

Jan H. Kok, publications manager of the World Council of Churches
(WCC) died of cancer in Geneva on February 7, aged 59. During a
funeral service at the Ecumenical Center chapel a glowing tribute
was paid to Kok's commitment to the Council, and to the ecumenical
movement. As the WCC's communication director, 1987 to 1999, Kok
played a major role in plans to develop with other organizations
including the LWF, an ecumenical news service, known now as
Ecumenical News International. Kok, a member of the Reformed
Churches in the Netherlands is survived by his wife, Birgitta, a
staff person with the LWF Geneva secretariat, their two sons Jakob
and Frederik, and Kok's mother and sister in the Netherlands. He
was laid to rest in Geneva.

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"Argentina - Who Foots the Bill?"

A forum on the current crisis in Argentina will take place
February 20 in Berlin, Germany. Organized by the Church
Development Service - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (EED) and
institute for economy and ecumenism - Institut SUDWIND, the
one-day forum will gather representatives from the political
field, universities, development policy organizations and
Argentinean experts. Speakers will include Rev. Juan Pedro,
president of the Evangelical Church of the River Plate in
Argentina. Bishop emeritus Dr. Christian Krause, LWF President and
chairperson of the EED governing board will open the meeting.

*       *       *

Nigerian Church Establishes Mission Field in the Gambia

The Lutheran Church of Nigeria (LCN) has established a mission
field in the Gambia, an English-speaking and predominantly Muslim
country on the West African coast. According to LCN President
Samuel J. Udofia, five congregations and preaching stations have
so far been organized forming what is now the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in the Gambia (ELCG). Udofia, is ELCG's pioneer visiting
pastor. Christians comprise about nine percent of Gambia's 1.4
million people. The first group of LCN missionaries started
serving there towards the end of last year. The 80,000-member LCN
joined the LWF in 1973.

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LWF Membership Figures for 2001

The LWF database program is currently undergoing major
development. Changes being made include calculation of the
Federation's annual statistics. The 2001 membership figures,
normally published in the January 2002 edition of Lutheran World
Information, will be provided in a subsequent edition of LWI upon
completion of these improvements.

The 2002 LWF Directory, also affected by the above, will be
published soon thereafter.

(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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