wfn.org | LWI News in Brief No.1 _2004

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

- LWF Treasurer Stoll New Moderator of German Diaconal Organization 
- Hueffmeier New President of Gustav Adolf Agency
- Antti Pentikaeinen New Director of FinnChurchAid
- Protestant Church among Most Trusted Institutions in Slovak Republic
- VELKD Publishes Guidelines on OraclesYouth Targeted
- Second Term for General Secretary of Martin Luther Federation 
- Elisabeth Dons Christensen Third Lutheran Woman Bishop in Denmark
- Deputy Director of LWF Malawi Field Program Dies
- General Secretary Noko Pays Tribute to Former LWF Project Committee Member
Margaretha Ringstroem
- Second Ecumenical Kirchentag Planned in Germany

*    *	   *

LWF Treasurer Stoll New Moderator of German Diaconal Organization 

Oberkirchenrat Peter Stoll, treasurer of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF),
becomes the new chairperson of the board of Dienste fuer Menschen, a diaconal
association in Germany. On March 1, he will succeed Otto Specht, who has held
this position for 23 years.

Since November 1993, Stoll, 47, has led the financial management and
information technology department in the Evangelical Church of Wuerttemberg,
Germany. Prior to that he was responsible for organization and planning in
the North Elbian church's central office in Kiel. "Stoll is held in highest
esteem in the Wuerttemberg church, and has rendered outstanding service
during the past ten years," said Wuerttemberg Bishop Dr Gerhard Maier. The
bishop welcomed Stoll's new assignment in the field of church social work,
saying he would still be of significant service to the Protestant churches.
The Wuerttemberg church will grant Stoll leave of absence to enable him take
up his new position. 

The corporation governed by Dienste fuer Menschen has around 2,000 employees,
and operates nursing homes for the elderly with a total capacity of 1,300 and
residences for over 500. It also has two rehabilitation centers, a
specialized geriatric hospital, mobile nursing care and three training
colleges.

Delegates to the July 2003 LWF Tenth Assembly in Winnipeg, Canada, elected
Stoll to the LWF Council. He was subsequently appointed LWF treasurer. (228
words)

*    *	   *

Hueffmeier New President of Gustav Adolf Agency

A special assembly of the Gustav Adolf Agency unanimously elected Dr Wilhelm
Hueffmeier as the agency's new president on January 19 in Leipzig, Germany.
Hueffmeier heads the Berlin office of the Union of Protestant Churches (UEK).
Martina Helmer-Pham Xuan from Hermannsburg and Provost Martin Herche from
Halle were elected vice-presidents. The treasurer, Hans-Henning von
Bischoffshausen, was re-elected for another term.

The new board wants to increase cooperation within the Leipzig central
office, according to a statement released after the election. Its external
work will be devoted to the essential tasks in the diaspora church, in
coordination and cooperation with other agencies. Another concern, according
to the statement, was to strengthen the specific theological profile of the
Gustav Adolf Agency. 

The new elections were necessary due to financial difficulties that in the
past year have led to a crisis in one of the oldest Protestant aid
organizations. The agency has announced that it will have to reduce its staff
by about a third. It mentioned, among other reasons, decreasing donations and
increased costs. The Gustav Adolf Agency was founded in 1832 to support
Christian minorities in Europe, Latin America and Central Asia in building up
their congregations, in their social welfare and missionary tasks, and in
renovating and constructing buildings. (216 words)

*    *	   *

Antti Pentikaeinen New Director of FinnChurchAid

Mr Antti Pentikaeinen is the new director of FinnChurchAid beginning January
this year. Pentikaeinen, 31, succeeded Dr Tapio Saraneva who passed away last
August. Pentikaeinen previously worked as adviser to former Finnish President
Martti Ahtisaari. He was head of finance and administration at the Crisis
Management Initiative, an organization founded by Ahtisaari. From January
2003, Pentikaeinen was assistant general secretary of the so-called Helsinki
Process, an initiative of the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, aimed at
finding feasible solutions to global problems through the joint efforts of a
wide network of international experts. FinnChurchAid is one of the major
Finnish non-governmental development organizations, and is a partner
organization of the Lutheran World Federation. (119 words)

*    *	   *

Protestant Church among Most Trusted Institutions in Slovak Republic

The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Slovak Republic
(ECAC-SR) is one of the five most trusted institutions in the country. The
church's rating was contained in a survey carried out last October by the
independent "MVK" agency, in which 1,152 persons were interviewed about the
trustworthiness of 15 institutions. The Slovak army was ranked highest, with
66.5 percent of the respondents saying they considered it the most trusted
body. It was followed by the Slovak National Bank - 54%, Roman Catholic
Church - 48.3%, Slovak Constitutional Court - 46.2%, and the ECAC-SR - 42.6%.

This is a surprisingly positive result for the Protestant church in a country
where 69 percent of the population is Roman Catholic and only 6.9 percent is
Protestant, said Rev. Ondrej Prostrednik, general secretary of the Ecumenical
Council of Churches in the Slovak Republic. He sees the positive and
encouraging public opinion about ECAC-SR as resulting from the church's
intensive missionary efforts since 1989, and from its strong communication
with civil society through regular press conferences, public statements and
press releases. He points out that the church's ecumenical openness also
contributed to the trustworthy image of the Protestant church. ECAC-SR
General Bishop Dr Julius Filo, sees a further reason as the positive role the
church has played in the past through the service given by many important
Protestant public figures.(236 words)

*    *	   *

VELKD Publishes Guidelines on "Oracles"Youth Targeted

A working group of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD)
and the German National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation has
published a booklet titled "Oracles." The 26-page publication gives
information on phenomena and practices which attract teenagers. It includes
subjects such as numerology, astrology and spiritualistic practices. The
texts are mainly targeted at youth leaders in churches, schools and similar
institutions, offering them both information and advice on dealing with these
phenomena. 

"From a Christian viewpoint, we can only recommend that one avoids exposure
to influences which arise from practicing the various fortune-telling
techniques," says the introduction to the booklet. "In complex ways, the
human psyche may often become addicted to that which began as a game." The
"Oracles" booklet can be ordered [in German] at EUR 2.00 from the VELKD
Lutheran Church Office, Richard-Wagner-Str. 26, DE-30177 Hanover, Germany,
Tel. +49 511 62 61 237, Fax +49 511 62 61 211, E-mail krech@velkd.de (163
words)

*    *	   *

Second Term for General Secretary of Martin Luther Federation 

The general assembly of the Martin Luther Federation meeting in early
November 2003, confirmed its general secretary, Rev. Dr Rainer Stahl, for a
second term in office until 2010. Around 50 delegates took part, representing
the federation's associations. They agreed to give their 2004 diaspora gift
to the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland, with a
special emphasis on promoting the Christian academy in Warsaw. (76 words)

*    *	   *

Elisabeth Dons Christensen Third Lutheran Woman Bishop in Denmark

The election of Rev. Elisabeth Dons Christensen as bishop of Ribe Diocese in
southwest Jutland last December brought to three the number of women among
the ten bishops in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark. Christensen,
59, received 55 percent of votes cast for the post that was contested by two
other candidates. In 1995, Rev. Sophie Petersen was elected the first
Lutheran woman bishop in the Danish church, followed by Rev. Lise-Lotte Rebel
in 1996. "I want to be a visible bishop in the media where it is needed and
beneficial for the church," Christensen said after her election. She
succeeded Bishop emeritus Niels Holm. Ribe is the oldest town in Denmark and
was a center for trade and shipping in medieval times. In 860, apostle St
Ansgar of the Nordic countries built a church there and Ribe became an
episcopal residence in 948. (154 words)

*    *	   *

Deputy Director of LWF Malawi Field Program Dies

Mr Halex Mtegha, deputy director of the Evangelical Lutheran Development
Program (ELDP) in Malawi died on January 6 following illness. The ELDP is the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) country program under the Department for
World Service (DWS). The LWF representative in Malawi and ELDP director Dr
Eliawony Meena described the late Mtegha as a cooperative, duty-conscious,
innovative, and diligent colleague, whose contribution to the program's work
will be greatly missed. Mtegha, 36, worked for nine years with the ELDP which
he joined on secondment from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malawi
(ELCM). He became ELDP deputy director in 1999, responsible for coordination
of the Rural Community and Motivation Development project and emergency work.
Mtegha was a member of the Action by Churches Together (ACT) International
network in Malawi. The ELDP was established in 1989 in response to an ELCM
and Government of Malawi request to provide assistance then to Mozambican
refugees in
  !
the country. Its programmatic work has since evolved and currently focuses on
integrated community development projects that include food security, water
and sanitation, environmental protection, HIV/AIDS awareness and
action-oriented education. (190 words)

*    *	   *

General Secretary Noko Pays Tribute to Former LWF Project Committee Member
Margaretha Ringstroem

Margaretha Ringstroem "was a friend of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF),"
said LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko in tribute to the former
director of Church of Sweden Aid  Lutherhj*lpen. Ringstroem died on January
4 at the age of 64, after a long struggle with cancer. Noko underlined
Ringstroem's dedicated service to the Lutheran communion as a member of the
Project Committee from 1990 to 1997. "She will be remembered for her
compassion and courage to stand up for the weak in church and society. She
was always ahead of her time in thought and actions, sincerely believing that
another world is possible," said the general secretary in his tribute.
Ringstroem served as Lutherhj*lpen director 1987-96. She is survived by her
husband Bjoern Ringstroem, two adult sons and three grandchildren. (144
words)

*    *	   *

Second Ecumenical Kirchentag Planned in Germany

The German Protestant Kirchentag and the Central Committee of German
Catholics are planning to jointly host a second Ecumenical Kirchentag (church
convention) between 2008 and 2010. At a December 2003 meeting in Bonn,
Germany, delegates to the executive committees of both lay organizations,
said the overwhelming success of the 2003 Ecumenical Kirchentag in Berlin,
had convinced them of the need to continue jointly sponsoring such ecumenical
conventions at regular intervals in the future. They also emphasized that the
separate Protestant and Roman Catholic church conventions, as previously held
[every two years], would continue to be important for ecumenical progress in
the future.(108 words)

[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 inter-faith 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 LWF's information service. 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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