wfn.org | FEATURE: 'Lithuania Never Felt Disconnected from Europe'

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

FEATURE: 'Lithuania Never Felt Disconnected from Europe'
Bishop Mindaugas Sabutis: Challenging Situation for Lutheran Church
after EU Membership

GENEVA, 30  May 2005 (LWI) * It has been a wave of significant
political changes in Europe since the fall of the "Iron curtain" in the
early 1990s, and the subsequent emergence of newly independent states.
But not only that: On 1 May 2004 Lithuania together with nine other
Central and Eastern European countries, joined the European Union (EU),
the regional body founded in 1993 with the aim to enhance political,
economic and social co-operation.

Expectations among the Lithuanian population were high, and this new
political situation also brought about new challenges for the churches,
according to Bishop Mindaugas Sabutis, head of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Lithuania (ELCL). He shares in his country's enthusiasm
about membership in the EU particularly in anticipation of economic and
social changes, but he also admits, real change will take some time. He
points out, however, that "Lithuania never felt disconnected from
Europe. We always saw ourselves as part of Europe." 

Elected to the ELCL's top position in April 2004, Sabutis, 29, talked
about the new situation the church finds itself in an interview with
Lutheran World Information (LWI).  "Somehow we jumped from one secular
world, the [former] Soviet Union regime, to another, that is the EU.
This poses a big challenge to the church: How can we best present the
gospel to the people?" 

Defending, Preserving Church Identity in a Changed Environment

In Lithuania, he goes on to explain, people are quite open to
syncretistic thinking and ready to accept new ideas. They are open to
the gospel but at the same time they also accept spiritism or occultism,
and they tend to mix it all together. Sabutis considers this as a result
from the oppressive Soviet regime, where it was clear what was permitted
and what was forbidden. During that period, the church was mainly
concerned about defending and preserving its identity. Today, it is
faced with the same problem, but in a completely changed environment.
"We now live in a society that is open to dialogue, but first of all we
have to learn what openness means," he says. 

He acknowledges that membership in the EU has helped Lithuania move
from collective responsibility (as promoted by the Soviet Union) to
individual responsibility. But these new achievements also have some
negative side effects. With the right to free movement, people seize
many open opportunities including work and study abroad, especially
because unemployment is a big problem in Lithuania. The country has so
far lost about ten percent of its population to emigration, and this of
course affects churches. 

Sabutis describes this social problem as a "tragedy," but he is
confident that the trend can be stopped. He therefore wants the churches
to actively engage people, especially the youth, in the life of their
congregations, and reach out to those who do not have any connection to
the church yet. As an example of how both sides*congregations and young
people*can benefit from such involvement, he cites a congregation in
Kedainiai in central Lithuania. A group of "punks," who previously "hung
around" the church area, have significantly revived the congregational
life after integration into the community. With their help the church
building is now being renovated, and the membership in that congregation
has more than doubled. And now, the young people have formed a choir and
a band, the bishop says.

More Emphasis on Youth Work

Even though his church wants to take up more youth work, Sabutis does
not agree with the common statement that the 'youth is the future of
the church.' He prefers not to divide congregations in old and young.
"We have to look at the present time and see the people who are praising
Jesus Christ today. The community is like a family with people of all
ages, grandparents and grandchildren sitting together at the same table.
They may have different interests but they have the most important thing
in common, they belong to the same family!"

The ELCL bishop has ambitious projects for his church. He mentions the
communication center "Kelias," which was established in 1992 and is
working now in the areas of publishing and multimedia education. The
center also focuses on diaconical work and views multimedia as a means
of creating identity. Another project is the newly started church
magazine, published monthly and to which all congregations are invited
to contribute articles.

New Fund Aimed at Improving Pastors' Grim Financial Situation 

But the situation of the Lithuanian pastors looks rather grim and
difficult at the moment. As there is no state support to all ministries
of the church, they financially depend on their congregations'
offerings. Altogether, there are 18 pastors caring for 54 congregations,
but only four of the congregations can fully support their pastors. The
others often have to manage on even less than the minimum salary in
Lithuania, which is about 180 Euro. "Our pastors have to live on 70 to
100 Euro on average," the bishop explains. The church has now initiated
a new fund, for which church members have started contributing a form of
tax fee. But it will still take years before the fund actually works as
pastors would be paid only from the interest generated. 

Bilateral partners still help out financially and Sabutis hopes for the
continuation of these fruitful relationships with other churches, mainly
in Europe and the United States, and partner organizations. He is
grateful for the support that helped restore the ELCL's church
buildings and other structures. "Our partners offered us their money and
prayers, it was a great example of sharing. Now we would like these
partnerships to become more balanced. At the moment we don't have the
material resources, but we can share our experience and our
spirituality. This is a question of Koinonia." 

The ELCL joined the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in 1967, and has
around 20,000 members. (993 words)

(By Julia Heyde, youth intern in the LWF Office for Communication
Services.)

(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.]

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