wfn.org | Capacity Building an Ongoing Concern for Ukrainian Church

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

Capacity Building an Ongoing Concern for Ukrainian Church 
Decreasing Financial Dependency on Partner Churches 

ODESSA, Ukraine/GENEVA, 21 December 2004 (LWI) - A "continuous
development" was how Bishop Dr Edmund Ratz described the situation of
the German Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ukraine (DELKU). The
strengthening of congregations and capacity building for voluntary
workers should continue to be the main focus, the DELKU bishop said in
his report to the synod at its October 25-27 meeting in Odessa. 

Presenting his report to the 32 delegates from DELKU's 40
congregations, Ratz noted that the St Paul Church House in Odessa had
become an "important crystallization point for the training and further
education" of church workers. He considered it very encouraging that
DELKU's regionalization into church districts was making progress. "In
some of the districts, one day events have taken place on several
occasions, concentrating on specific subjects." Speaking of the
communion within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other
States (ELCROS), to which the Georgian church belongs, Ratz said the
main concern at the moment was the future structure of ELCROS.

He expressed gratitude to DELKU's partner church, the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Bavaria, Germany, for its assistance with staffing,
content and finance which will continue to be required. Such support
will still be needed despite the fact that financial dependency had been
reduced decisively by intensifying donations and collections and, above
all, through income from the church guest house in Odessa.

Ratz described this year's European church leaders' consultation on
HIV/AIDS as the "most important international event in church during the
period under review." Around 40 representatives from the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) member churches in Europe and leaders in women's and
youth work, together with staff from regional and international
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) attended the April 20-25
LWF-sponsored conference. Ratz described cooperation with the city's
authorities and the state during the conference, as well as the active
participation of NGOs as particularly satisfactory. 

In his address titled "The Ministry in the Church and the Church's
Tasks," Bishop Dr Christoph Klein, Evangelical Church of the Augsburg
Confession in Romania, stressed the need for all offices and ministries
in the church to contribute to building up congregations "to the glory
of God and the well being of people." During group discussions on
Klein's presentation, synod members discussed a number of issues and
suggestions concerning preachers' tasks, church statutes and communion
within ELCROS.

In his report, Rev. Alexander Gross from Odessa said the synod's 2002
plan for training and further education had been carried out to a large
extent. Currently, seminars are going on in various areas of church work
and are well attended by congregation representatives. Focus includes
children's and youth activities, music, preaching, diaconal service and
management and leadership skills.

The main emphasis of DELKU's diaconal work, as reported by Mina
Schamina, a member of the church governing board, was assistance with
medicine, food and material aid, management of an establishment for the
handicapped and home care visits. (496 words)

(By ELCROS press officer, Marina Chudenko.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138
member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of
nearly 65 million Lutherans. 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.)

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