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

LWI News in Brief

+ Latin American LWF Member Churches Publish Book on Neo-liberal
Globalization
+ Russia: ELCROS Regains Unrestricted Use of St Anne's Church
+ Churches in Latin America Pledge Active Participation in World Social Forum
2005
+ Dezsoe Z. Adorjani New Bishop in Romania, Church Changes Name
+ Pastor Andres Poder Elected Archbishop of Estonian Church
+ Reconciliation Call at Peruvian Interfaith Conference
+ Church of England Invites Danish Lutherans to Reconsider "Porvoo"
+ Hamburg Pastor Andreas Stoekl New Bishop in Georgia

Latin American LWF Member Churches Publish Book on Neo-liberal Globalization 

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches in Latin America have
published a new book focusing on neo-liberal globalization and foreign debt.
It is titled "Para que puedan resistir * las iglesias luteranas
latinoamericanas frente a la globalizacisn neoliberal y la deuda externa" (So
you can resist * neo-liberal globalization and foreign debt from the
perspective of the Lutheran World Federation members in Latin America). The
150-page publication with contributions in Spanish and Portuguese languages
provides insight by churches and other organizations, thoughts, sermons, and
prayers related to the subject. With this publication, the Conference of
Bishops and Presidents of the LWF member churches in Latin America hopes to
facilitate public access to the numerous documents available and strengthen
debate within the region about its contribution to the global and ecumenical
discussion on globalization.

Reni Krueger, dean of the higher institute of theological studies (ISEDET) in
Buenos Aires, Argentina, is the book's publisher. The LWF coordinated the
project's work including the printing of 2,000 copies through financial
support from Norway's ecumenical aid development agency, Norwegian Church
Aid.

The publication can be purchased at a price of USD 10 from ISEDET, E-mail
info@isedet.edu.ar or from the LWF Area Secretary for Latin America and the
Caribbean region, Rev. Martin Junge, E-mail junge@lutheranworld.org. (212
words)

*    *	   *

Russia: ELCROS Regains Unrestricted Use of St Anne's Church 

A Moscow agency that manages federal property has handed back St Anne's
Evangelical Lutheran Church for unrestricted free-of-charge use by the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States (ELCROS). The ELCROS
is still hoping to regain ownership of the church built in 1735 by the German
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia.

Nationalized by the then communist government in 1935, St Anne's was used as
a cinema until summer 2001, when the building was converted into a bar and
nightclub in spite of protests by ELCROS Archbishop D. Georg Kretschmar..
After many years of wrangling, the authorities confirmed in 2002 that the
building would be returned to the Lutheran church. Shortly after an eviction
order against the nightclub managers, St Anne's Church went up in flames for
unknown reasons in the early hours of 6 December 2002, and was completely
destroyed. The ELCROS has started securing the remaining structure, and the
roof destroyed by the fire also needed replacing. (168 words)

*    *	   *

Churches in Latin America Pledge Active Participation in World Social Forum
2005

Member churches of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) from Argentina, Chile
and Brazil have resolved to play an active role in the January 2005 World
Social Forum (WSF) in Porto Alegre, Brazil, under the  theme, "Another World
is Possible."

Back in September, the five churches * Argentina's Evangelical Church of the
River Plate and United Evangelical Lutheran Church; Evangelical Church of the
Lutheran Confession in Brazil; and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile, and
the Lutheran Church in Chile - had cited economic globalization, hunger,
foreign debt and peace as major concerns for the sub-region. In a statement
following their meeting in Viqa del Mar, Chile, they also resolved to step up
their activities through the LWF Department for Mission and Development (DMD)
and its engagement with the issue of foreign debt in the Latin America and
Caribbean region. The churches anticipate a process that includes their
active participation in national and international forums with the aim to
achieve recognition of foreign debt illegitimacy..

Their goal is to publicize the topic of "odious" foreign debt at the
different levels of the churches in the North as well as in the South. It is
expected that churches and their agencies in the North would reach a
consensus concerning an approach to the origin, composition and legitimacy of
foreign debt. (230 words)

*    *	   *

Dezsoe Z. Adorjani New Bishop in Romania, Church Changes Name

The synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Romania has elected Rev.
Dezsoe Z. Adorjani as its new bishop. Adorjani was installed into his new
position in October in Sfantu-Gheorghe. He is the successor of Bishop Arpad
Mozes, who retired in May this year. During its meeting, the synod formally
adopted the new name of the church - Evangelical Lutheran Church in Romania -
previously known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Augsburg
Confession in Romania. With a membership of 32,000 people, the Romanian
church joined the Lutheran World Federation in 1964. (103 words)

*    *	   *

Pastor Andres Poder Elected Archbishop of Estonian Church

The synod of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC) has elected Rev.
Andres Poder, as the church's new archbishop. Poder, 55 will be installed
into office on 2 February 2005 in the Talin cathedral. He succeeds Archbishop
Jaan Kiivit. Until his election, the archbishop-elect was assistant moderator
of the EELC governing board. Prior to that he served as dean of the Paernu
district and pastor of the Lutheran congregation there. Poder is married and
has three children.

The EELC has some 200,000 members. It joined the Lutheran World Federation in
1963. 
(99 words)

*    *	   *

Reconciliation Call at Peruvian Interfaith Conference 

Participants at the Second Peruvian Interfaith Conference resolved to work
for reconciliation for the victims of the 1980s and 1990s armed conflicts in
the country and their families. In the Pachacamac Interfaith Declaration on
Diversity and Pluralism, representatives from 32 Buddhist, Christian,
Islamic, Jewish, ecumenical and inter-religious organizations, along with aid
agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) emphasized that religious
identity entailed not just the privilege but also the obligation to work for
reconciliation. 

With respect to the final report of the Peruvian truth and reconciliation
commission (Comisisn de la Verdad y Reconciliacisn - CVR), published in
August 2003, they pledged to implement the CVR's recommendations "not only as
individuals and within our religious traditions but also along with the
members of other religions and with all people of good will." According to
the report over 69,000 people were subjected to violence during the rule of
terror. Violent death in over 50 percent of all documented cases was blamed
on left wing extremist guerrilla movement Sendero Luminoso, while the
revolutionary movement Tzpac Amaru was cited as perpetrators in 1.5 percent
of the cases. The remaining were victims of repression by the police,
military, death squads or "self-defense committees." Around 75 percent of the
victims were of indigenous origin, and four-fifths lived in rural areas.

In their declaration, participants pledged to contribute to reinvigorating a
nation known for its multiethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious and
multi-lingual character. (238 words)

*    *	   *

Church of England Invites Danish Lutherans to Reconsider "Porvoo"

The bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark (ELCD) have
received a letter from the Church of England inviting the Danish church to
reconsider joining the Porvoo Declaration. The Lutheran-Anglican Porvoo
Declaration is a joint theological document produced in 1995 by the Nordic
and Baltic Lutheran churches and the Anglican churches of Great Britain and
Ireland. It establishes eucharistic fellowship and close ecclesiastical
contacts between the signatory churches. The Danish bishops did not sign the
declaration as they had reservations concerning the Anglican understanding of
the bishop's office and wanted equal admittance for men and women ordained by
male and female bishops. These fundamental questions are now being
reconsidered in a working committee set up by the Church of England. The
theological working group of the ELCD Council on International Relations will
consider the invitation from the Church of England. (154 words)

(Church News from Denmark * ELCD Council on International Relations.)

*    *	   *

Hamburg Pastor Andreas Stoekl New Bishop in Georgia

The Sixth Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Georgia has a new
bishop, Rev. Dr Andreas Stoekl from Hamburg. Elected at the end of the
church's September 24-26 synod in the capital Tbilisi. Stoekl, 65, was
installed into office in a special service led by Archbishop Dr Georg
Kretschmar, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States (ELCROS)
and Wuerttemberg Bishop, Dr Gerhard Maier. Stoekl had previously worked with
immigrants to Germany from the former Soviet Union and has ecumenical
experience. He succeeds Rev. Dr Gert Hummel who had served as bishop of the
church from 1999 until his death in March this year. Membership in the
Georgian Lutheran church can be traced back mainly to Swabian immigrants who
left Wuerttemberg at the beginning of the 19th century. There is lively
congregational life with regular worship services, Bible study and youth
work. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Georgia is an autonomous regional
church of ELCROS. 
(164 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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LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
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