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ALC HEADLINES:
BRAZIL: WCC positive about place Assembly will be held
BRAZIL: Paulo Lockmann is the new president of CIEMAL
PERU: Lutherans analyse aspects of churches social service work
BRAZIL: CIEMAL convenes Methodists to action for a better world
BRAZIL: It is impossible to be Church without having a political and social 
awareness: Etchegoyen
PERU: LWF Department of World Service meetings with counterparts

BRAZIL
WCC positive about place Assembly will be held

By Edelberto Behs
PORTO ALEGRE, May 19, 2003 (alc). The decision to hold the February 2006 
World Council of Churches IX General Assembly in Porto Alegre was a very 
good one, said WCC secretary general Konrad Raiser.

The conditions that the Pontifical Catholic University of Porto Alegre 
offer, where the Assembly is slated to be held, are better than those we 
have had at other assemblies, said Raiser at the end of a weeklong 
preparatory visit to Brazil.

Accompanied by WCC officials pastors Marilia Sch|ller and Sabine Udodesko, 
Raiser left Saturday night for Geneva, Switzerland, where the organization 
is based.

Interviewed by ALC, the WCC secretary general was positive about his visit. 
There is a spirit of positive collaboration but there are also great 
expectations in local Churches, he said.

The hope is that preparatory work for the Assembly will give new energy to 
the joint work of Churches.

The ecumenical situation in Brazil is very interesting, said Raiser, as it 
is the only country in Latin America where the Catholic Church participates 
in a Church Council: the National Council of Christians Churches of Brazil 
(CONIC).

As such, it will also be one of the hosts of the IX Assembly even though it 
is not a member of the WCC because it was CONIC that invited the WCC to 
hold the event in Brazil.

Regarding longer-term issues, Raiser said that he does not believe that we 
are in the midst of an ecumenical winter or facing a crisis in the 
international ecumenical movement.

He admitted, however, that the ecumenical dynamic is quieter than it was 10 
or 15 years ago. The ecumenical movement has never developed in a straight 
line, said Raiser.

Among other things, he said that it will still not be possible for 
Christians from different Church families to walk together to the altar to 
receive the Holy Supper at the IX Assembly.

The WCC congregates historic Protestant Churches from different 
denominations and two branches of Orthodox Churches that are still 
reluctant when it comes to sharing communion. Raiser is convinced that 
these and other barriers will disappear one day, but not before 2006.

During the Assembly in Porto Alegre local Churches will hold worship and 
praise services. Those who are able to invite all Christians to partake in 
the Holy Supper will do so. Others will only offer communion to their own 
members.

Raiser will leave the position as WCC Secretary General shortly before his 
66th birthday next January. However, he said it was necessary to begin 
preparations for the Assembly, to avoid overloading his successor.

Raiser said that there are several candidates for his replacement but that 
the nominations are not public.

Once he is retired Raiser will return to Germany with his wife. He said he 
would dedicate himself to doing things he enjoys and will teach at 
university part time. Prior to taking on the WCC position Raiser was a 
professor of Systematic Theology.

BRAZIL
Paulo Lockmann is the new president of CIEMAL

By Paulo Hebm|ller
SAO PAULO, May 20, 2003 (alc). Brazilian Bishops Paulo Tarso de Oliveira 
Lockmann was elected the new president of the Council of Evangelical 
Methodist Churches of Latin America and the Caribbean (CIEMAL) at the 8th 
General Assembly underway since last Saturday at the Methodist University 
of Piracicaba (UNIMEP) in the state of Sao Paulo.

The election was highly disputed with the current vice president of CIEMAL, 
Puerto Rican Bishop Juan Antonio Vera. According to the rules of the 
organization, in order to be elected a candidate must win three-fifths of 
the vote. Lockmann was elected after six rounds of voting.

The new CIEMAL president is 55 years old and has been Bishop of the I 
Region of the Methodist Church of Brazil that corresponds to the state of 
Rio de Janiero for the past 16 years. He will replace Chilean Bishop Isamas 
Gutiirrez who has presided the CIEMAL for the past 12 years.

Lockmann came into contact with CIEMAL in 1977 and said that it has been a 
great school for his work. His links with the Latin American Church have 
grown stronger. He studied the New Testament at the Evangelical Theological 
Studies Institute (ISEDET)  in Buenos Aires.

I assume this task, not as a personal project but as an option so that the 
Methodist Church of Brazil place its gifts and resources at the service of 
Sister Churches in Latin America, he said.

Bolivian Bishop Carlos Intipampa was elected vice president and said that 
he hopes to share the work experience and perspective of indigenous people, 
in particular from the Andes with Churches on the continent.

Another important moment at the Assembly was the approval of the admission 
of the Methodist Churches of Colombia and Paraguay who are now full members 
of the CIEMAL. Some 140 delegates from Churches in 20 countries in the 
region attended the meeting.

PERU
Lutherans analyse aspects of churches social service work

LIMA, May 22, 2003 (alc). Participants at the Church, Civil Society and 
Sustainable Development regional consultation convened by the Lutheran 
World Federations Department of World Service discussed different aspects 
of the Churches social service work (diakonia) this Thursday.

Rudelmar de Faria, LWF representative in El Salvador, presented the 
conclusions of the Global Consultation on Diakonia that the LWF held in 
Johannesburg, South Africa in November 2002 and Leena Hokkanen, director of 
Diakonia-Peru spoke about the work her institution carries out in the
country.

Neville Pradham, from the LWF department of World Service emphasized that 
the Church helps people through social service work but that it is very 
important that we do not lose sight of the collective aspect.

De Faria said that all Christians are called to serve others through 
Diakonia and rejected any paternalist aims and practices that state that 
some Churches are not capable of becoming involved in social service work 
due to a lack of resources or skills.

He said that poverty, violence and HIV/AIDs are the three major challenges 
that Churches face today.  The extreme and extensive poverty in the world 
today is a scandal and Churches are called to participate in the struggle 
of the poor to overcome it and seek alternatives that lead to greater
justice.

The culture of silence surrounding the violence puts the prophetic voice of 
the Church at risk, he said. Values and practices that incite violence 
should be rejected and there is a need to find a way to resist the imperial 
culture that is invading the world, propagating consumerism, individualism 
and the tolerance of violence as a means to resolve conflicts.

We need to break the culture of silence about the painful reality 
surrounding AIDS.

It is important to have an impact on public policies such as challenging 
the cost and access to medicine produced by major companies. There is also 
a need to work together with other Churches and organizations and place 
special attention on women, young people and children who are affected.

In order to be effective agents of Diakonia, said Faria, Churches must 
regularly evaluate their internal structures and diaconal ministries and 
strengthen education social service work.

While Diakonia has an explicitly Christian foundation it is crucial to 
build strategic alliances with other government, civil society and 
grassroots organizations and Churches.

In addressing the issue of Social Service Work, Development and Civil 
Society, Hokkanen indicated that development implies change and involves 
all of society and human beings as opposed to just economics.

She emphasized the importance of learning to listen to the poor and said 
that social service work should be dignifying for both the person who gives 
and the person who receives.

We work in a society with different cultural, economic and social aspects 
and we must find a common denominator to achieve sustainable development, 
she added.

BRAZIL
CIEMAL convenes Methodists to action for a better world

SAO PAULO, May 22, 2003 (alc). The Council of Evangelical Methodist 
Churches of Latin America and the Caribbean (CIEMAL) concluded its VIII 
Assembly held in this city May 17-22.

In a final statement, CIEMAL reaffirmed its willingness to continue 
carrying out its ministry in Latin America and the Caribbean with three 
main objectives: to prophetically denounce evil, to firmly and valiantly 
proclaim Jesus Christ and to renew Church action in order to contribute to 
transforming society.

The CIEMAL assembly confirmed its denouncement of the globalized economic 
system because it favours the concentration of wealth and accentuates the 
poverty of our populations in an unjust and growing fashion, even using 
violence in its maximum expressions to obtain its objectives (wars, 
invasion, economic blockades, boycotts, etc).

It also denounced the economic and ethical corruption that this globalized 
system is provoking at every level.

The document also denounces the destructive impact the system has on nature 
and cites military practices in Vieques, Puerto Rico and other parts of the 
world.

It also denounces indiscriminate deforestation, air pollution caused by 
major industry, river and ocean pollution and the extinction of different 
species of flora and fauna, leading to an ecological imbalance (today one 
species becomes extinct every hour).

This destruction of nature is leading to the regeneration of old diseases 
and the appearance of new ones that are much more aggressive, said the 
Methodist statement.

All of this will lead us to self-destruction if we do not turn off this 
path, the document said.

Participants at the VIII CIEMAL Assembly said that in order to announce the 
Gospel there is a need for a renewal that is inspired and strengthened by 
the Holy Spirit and to live a new conversion.

The Assembly called Methodists to committed action in favour of a better 
world, oriented in two directions: to provoke a change that leads to the 
dignity of the individual and equality in human relationships and that 
leads to the integration of individuals with no discrimination and the 
commitment to help the least favoured.

BRAZIL
It is impossible to be Church without having a political and social 
awareness: Etchegoyen

By Paulo Hebm|ller
SAO PAULO, May 23, 2003 (alc). The serious problems wracking Latin America 
found echo at the VIII Council of Evangelical Methodist Churches of Latin 
America and the Caribbean (CIEMAL), said Argentine Bishop and secretary 
general of the organization Aldo Etchegoyen.

Etchegoyen participated with delegates from 19 countries in the region at 
the assembly, held on the Taquaral Campus at the Methodist University in 
this city in the state of Sao Paulo from May 17-22.

Etchegoyen underlined that in the reports presented at the Assembly, the 
injustice, the distortion of economic structures, discrimination and 
violence against Afro-American communities, against women and against 
children were clearly denounced.

The Methodist leaders said that Christians should be aware that it is 
imposable to live as a Church without taking the economic and social 
issues and the political reality that our people are experiencing into 
account.

Among the main aspects of the Assembly, the Argentina Bishop emphasized the 
important testimony of the action of the Methodist Church in different 
countries, the participation of young people and intense dialogue among 
members of Churches.

We learned a great deal about the indigenous identity with the Bolivian 
delegation and we also had the very valuable presence of Churches in the 
Caribbean, he said.

The CIEMAL secretary general said that in the future the organization will 
have closer relationships with its member Churches and will seek to 
strengthen its ecumenical ties with organizations such as the Latin 
American Council of Churches (CLAI) and the World Council of Churches (WCC).

It is extremely important to continue strengthening our commitment to the 
Latin America and Caribbean people because I believe we are following a 
very valuable path, said Etchegoyen.

PERU
LWF Department of World Service meetings with counterparts

LIMA, May 23, 2003 (alc). The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Department of 
World Service met this week with its Latin American and Caribbean 
counterparts to analyse the importance of civil society, the participation 
of the Church in the public arena, as well how to transfer its social 
programs to local organizations.

Participants at the meeting, held May 19 - 23, reaffirmed that Churches are 
part of civil society and should have an impact on the public sphere. 
Churches should participate in this space in order to nourish and to 
express the utopias and energies of the people and contribute to the 
transformation of society, they said.

Participants represented organizations in El Salvador, Guatemala, the 
Dominican Republic, Haiti, Colombia and Peru. There were also 
representatives from Church Aid from Finland, the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church and Lutheran World Relief from the United States.

They emphasized that if the Church wants to be part of society it must be 
capable of dialogue and facilitating joint work  It must place the human 
being at the centre of development and social action and must also be able 
to have an impact at the local, national and international level.

Participants also debated how best to transfer social programs currently 
sponsored by the LWF to civil society, to local organizations. Communities 
that receive support must be trained from the outset to assume 
responsibility for their future

On Thursday May 22 debate focused on this transition. Participants 
discussed what was to be transferred, the necessary steps and the role of 
the LWF in the process.

Participants maintained that there is a need for a strong, well-organized 
counterpart, with the capacity to render accounts for the resources it 
receives, to assume the necessary legal responsibilities and with the 
technical preparation to appropriate and implement the programs.

They said that the transition mechanisms should be included in the 
preparatory phase of the project and that the process should be 
participatory with frequent evaluations.

They also agreed that the transfer should not be the result of economic 
pressure but rather should be part of a strategic planning process.

The meeting concluded Friday with the recommendation to continue the 
dialogue in a consultation to be held in Guatemala and to define a common 
agenda, in particular regarding natural and social emergencies and to 
construct a network of counterparts of the LWF Department of World Service 
in the region.

Participants also agreed that greater attention should be placed on issues 
linked to the indigenous world, to gender equity and to advocacy with the 
most vulnerable sectors in society.

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