wfn.org | LWF Study Team Begins Work on Intercultural Challenges in

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

LWF Study Team Begins Work on Intercultural Challenges in Ethical
Issues 

GENEVA, 9 October 2003 (LWI) - How to address ethical challenges
in different cultural contexts is the focus of a Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) study program recently begun by the Department
for Theology and Studies (DTS). 

A team of eight theologians from around the world held a first
meeting to share their initial perspectives and plan the content
for the eventual book, which is central to this program and is
anticipated in 2005.

In their discussions, what it means to live humanly emerged as a
key question, focused around different cultural understandings of
body, self and power. Participants affirmed that there tends to
be a Lutheran approach to ethical concerns, which they will use
to explore specific contextual issues. The challenges emerge, for
example, in areas of sexuality, migration, ethnic integration,
governance, citizenship and institutions, education, economic
life, agriculture and biotechnology.  

Bishop Dr Wesley Kigasung, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua
New Guinea (ELCPNG), expressed the hope that ways would be found
"to convince those in my church to think beyond what they have
been given" from their missionary traditions. The study program
would be useful in the preparation of ELCPNG leaders, Kigasung
said during the July 13-16 meeting at the Lutheran School of
Theology in Chicago, United States of America.

Seeking areas of consensus amid the cultural diversity present
within the Lutheran communion is one of the objectives of the new
DTS program. "Might we see this as developing a basis for a
social ethic for the LWF as a communion in the 21st century?"
asked Dr Per Anderson, Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota,
USA. 

"We hope to develop a book that can be used in theological
education settings around the world to engage critical questions
of moral life in different contexts in light of the faith we
share," commented DTS Director, Rev. Dr Karen Bloomquist, who
serves as staff for the study program. 

Other theologians on the team include Wanda Deifelt (Brazil),
Hans Ulrich (Germany), Yuen Wai Man (Hong Kong), Tam`s Bires
(Hungary), Moeahabo Phillip Moila (South Africa) and Elisabeth
Gerle (Sweden). 

For further information, contact The Lutheran World Federation,
Department for Theology and Studies, 150 Route de Ferney, P.O.
Box 2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland. Tel. +41 22 791 6111 or
+41 22 791 6161, Fax +41 22 791 6630, E-mail
kbl@lutheranworld.org.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical and interfaith 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 LWF' information service.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent
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Editor's e-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org