From the Worldwide Faith News archives www.wfn.org


LWI News in Brief No. 01 & 02 2005


From "Frank Imhoff" <Frank.Imhoff@elca.org>
Date Tue, 01 Mar 2005 11:26:38 -0600

LWF News in Brief

+ Palestinian Church Has New Name
+ Rev. Rainer Kiefer to Leave LWF German National Committee
+ South African Lutheran Becomes Director of ACT Coordinating Office
+ Oberkirchenrat Udo Hahn Named EKD Communications Director
+ Brazilian Church Launches Portuguese Version of LWF Document on
Violence against Women

Palestinian Church Has New Name

Effective January 2005, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan & the
Holy Land (ELCJHL) is the new name of the former Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Jordan (ELCJ). A member church of the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF) since 1974, the 3,000-member ELCJHL has six congregations, five of
which are in Palestine, clustered around Jerusalem and Bethlehem. It also
has a congregation in Jordan. The church is headed by Bishop Dr Munib A.
Younan, who is also LWF Vice-President for the Asia region. (86 words)

* * *

Rev. Rainer Kiefer to Leave LWF German National Committee

Rev. Rainer Kiefer, executive director of the Board for Church Cooperation
and World Service at the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) German National
Committee (GNC), will next April take up a new post as chairperson of the
Committee for Church Cooperation in Mission and Service in Hanover.
Kiefer, an ordained pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover
has worked with LWF/GNC since 1998. He will succeed Oberlandeskirchenrat
Joerg Homann, who retired on 30 August 2004.

Kiefer was born on 8 October 1959 in Celle, Germany. Upon completing his
theological studies at home, he studied in South Africa between 1985*86.
His training to become a vicar, 1989*1990 in Germany, was followed by
extended study under the Church of England in London, United Kingdom.
Until 1994, he worked as a pastor in Gretesch-Luestringen near Osnabrueck,
Germany, and subsequently as a church official of the Hanover regional
church office, Germany, before his appointment to the LWF/GNC.

The LWF/GNC represents 13 Lutheran churches with over 13 million members.
(175 words)

* * *

South African Lutheran Becomes Director of ACT Coordinating Office

Effective February 15, Rev. White M. Rakuba, an ordained pastor of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (ELCSA) is the new director
of the Geneva-based Coordinating Office of Action by Churches Together
(ACT) International. The Lutheran World Federation is a founding member of
ACT, a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save
lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide.
Prior to joining ACT, Rakuba served as director of the emergency relief
and refugee program of the Johannesburg-based South African Council of
Churches (SACC). He has been a member of ACT's Emergency Committee, its
highest governing body. He joined SACC in 1990, starting as a field
officer in the refugee ministry. He completed a program in disaster
management through Charles Sturt University, Australia. Rakuba attended
Marang Lutheran Theological Seminary in Rustenburg, South Africa. Ordained
in 1981, he was a parish pastor in various locations of ELCSA's Northern
Diocese in the 1980s.

Rakuba succeeds Thor-Arne Prois, who served as director until September
last year. Jenny Borden, a former senior staff member of United Kingdom-based ACT member Christian Aid, and who served as co-moderator of the ACT
executive committee, has been interim director.
Rakuba is married and has four children. (210 words)

* * *

Oberkirchenrat Udo Hahn Named EKD Communications Director

The Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) in Germany has
appointed Oberkirchenrat Udo Hahn as communications director. Hahn, 42, a
pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria, will take up his new
position in the second half of the year, succeeding Oberkirchenrat Robert
Mehlhose, who retired early 2004. Since 1999, Hahn has been press and
public relations officer of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Germany (VELKD) and the Hanover-based Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
German National Committee (GNC). Since 2001 he has been in charge of press
relations for the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe. Hahn studied
Protestant theology in Erlangen, Neuendettelsau and Munich in Germany. In
his new position with the EKD, Hahn will be responsible for the organization's communication and public relations activities.

The EKD includes 24 Lutheran, Reformed and United regional churches in
Germany. The VELKD is an association of eight regional Lutheran churches
in Bavaria, Brunswick, Hanover, Mecklenburg, North Elbia, Saxony,
Schaumburg-Lippe and Thuringia. The LWF/GNC represents 13 Lutheran
churches with a combined membership of over 13 million people. (182 words)

* * *

Brazilian Church Launches Portuguese Version of LWF Document on Violence
against Women

The Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IECLB) has
launched a Portuguese-language version of the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF) document "Churches Say 'No' to Violence against Women."
IECLB President, Rev. Dr Walter Altmann described the publication as a
very practical handbook that should be studied in local communities. "We
will be distributing it to all IECLB's working groups and leaders," he
said at the launching ceremony during the World Social Forum, January
26*31 in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Produced by the LWF Office for Women in Church and Society (WICAS),
Department for Mission and Development, the document is a contribution to
the World Council of Churches "Decade to Overcome Violence (2001*2010):
Churches Seeking Reconciliation and Peace." It is available in the four
LWF official languages*English, German, French, and Spanish. Some of the
LWF member churches have translated the document into an additional 20
languages worldwide.

Vera Roth, WICAS Latin American regional coordinator, said of the
Portuguese edition: "It's an important publication, because it tells us
women, how to deal with violence. It speaks of the need to seriously
understand the kind of violence perpetrated against women and how we can
respond to that."

Vidhya Rani, United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI) women's
desk secretary, speaking during the event, noted that India's 12 Lutheran
churches use different languages. In order to reach all the UELCI women,
laity, pastors and seminaries, the document has been translated into four
Indian languages," she stressed.(256 words)

(By Porto Alegre-based LWI correspondent, Susanne Buchweitz.)

(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 66 million Christians. 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.]

* * *

LWI online at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/Welcome.EN.html

LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
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Tel: (41.22) 791.63.54
Fax: (41.22) 791.66.30
Editor's e-mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org


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