wfn.org | LWF Member Churches Asked to Submit Invitations to Host

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

LWF Member Churches Asked to Submit Invitations to Host Eleventh Assembly in
2010
Council to Determine Assembly Venue at September 2005 Meeting in Jerusalem

GENEVA, 22 December 2004 (LWI) * The general secretary of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF), Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko has requested LWF member churches to
send in invitations to host the LWF Eleventh Assembly to be held in 2010.

In a letter addressed to the member churches and LWF National Committees,
Noko asks that invitations to host the next Assembly be received at the
Geneva secretariat not later than 30 June 2005. The decision on the assembly
venue will be taken by the LWF Council during its 31 August to 6 September
2005 meeting in Jerusalem.

When discussing possibilities to host the assembly, member churches are asked
to bear in mind key factors including the availability of adequate conference
facilities and accommodation for approximately 1,000 participants at
reasonable prices. They must also consider commitments for specific internal
preparatory work such as local committees and assigned local Assembly
coordination.

In view of recent experiences and tight travel requirements for participants
from the South, Noko particularly stresses the criterion that entry visas for
all participants be assured. The Canadian authorities' refusal to grant visas
prevented 53 participants from different countries in Africa and Asia from
attending the July 2003 Tenth Assembly in Winnipeg, Canada.

During this year's September 1-7 meeting at Chavannes-de-Bogis near Geneva,
LWF Council members supported the general secretary's recommendation to hold
the next Assembly in 2010 rather than 2009. In taking this decision they took
into consideration Assembly schedules of ecumenical sister organizations to
which LWF member churches are also members, as well as the financial
challenges involved.

Since the founding of the LWF in 1947, assemblies have taken place in: Lund,
Sweden (1947); Hanover, Germany (1952); Minneapolis, USA (1957); Helsinki,
Finland (1963); Evian, France (1970); Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania (1977);
Budapest, Hungary (1984); Curitiba, Brazil (1990); Hong Kong, China (1997 );
and Winnipeg, Canada in 2003. (332 words)

(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.)

[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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