wfn.org | LWF Council 08-2005 11th Assembly of the LWF in Stuttgart in

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

11th Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation in Stuttgart in 2010
Wuerttemberg Church Welcomes Lutheran Churches Worldwide to Germany

LWF Council Meeting in Jerusalem/Bethlehem,
31 August - 6 September 2005

PRESS RELEASE N0. 08-2005

JERUSALEM/BETHLEHEM, 5 September 2005 (LWI) * The Evangelical Church in
Wuerttemberg, Germany, will host the 11th  Assembly of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) in 2010. The assembly will take place in Stuttgart.

The LWF Council decided on the assembly venue today, September 5, at its
meeting taking place in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, hosted by the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.

With 23 votes in favor, 19 against and one abstention, the LWF Council
members accepted the Wuerttemberg church assembly invitation over that of
the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Slovak Republic
(ECAC-SR), presented by General Bishop Dr Julius Filo.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Colombia had also invited the LWF to
host the next assembly in Colombia. It however officially withdrew its
invitation, saying in a letter to LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr Ishmael
Noko, it would have been too difficult financially to host an assembly. It
nevertheless requested consideration to host an LWF Council meeting.

Oberkirchenrat Heiner Kueenzlen, who presented the invitation from the
W*rttemberg church, said it was a great honor for the German church to
host the forthcoming Assembly in Stuttgart. He said he was happy to
welcome delegates from all LWF member churches to Wuerttemberg. "The
Christian church is a global church, it will be good for us to have
Christians from all over the world as our guests. In Germany, we focus
very much on our own problems in church and society, but we want to share
in the joys and concerns of the Evangelical Lutheran churches worldwide,"
Kueenzlen remarked. He said the forthcoming LWF 11th  Assembly in
Stuttgart would be marked as a celebration of the Lutheran church in the
region and of all Christians.

The Wuerttemberg church was ready to support preparations for the assembly
including the logistics, staffing and finances, Kueenzlen explained. He
cited the good experience with hosting the 1999 German Protestant church
convention (Kirchentag), as well as the 1996 European youth conference of
the Taiz* Community in Stuttgart.

The ECAC-SR Bishop Filo congratulated the Wuerttemberg church for the
Council decision on the Assembly. It would have been a "great opportunity
for the Slovak church to host the Assembly together with the neighboring
and partner church in Germany," he said. He hoped that the 2010 Assembly
in Stuttgart would be a public event enabling the grassroots to participate.

The Wuerttemberg church, with 2.35 million members is one of the 13 member
churches of the LWF German National Committee (GNC). It joined the LWF in
1947, and has its headquarters in Stuttgart. Since 1 September 2005, Frank
O. July is the church's bishop.

The LWF/GNC Executive Secretary, Oberkirchenrat Norbert Denecke, said
after the Council decision: "The LWF German National Committee welcomes
the decision, and looks forward to welcoming delegates of LWF members from
all over the world to Stuttgart in 2010." Compared to the 1952 LWF
Assembly in Hanover, which was attended mainly by male delegates from
Europe and North America, the LWF has grown into a worldwide communion of
churches comprising men and women from growing churches in the South and
North. At a meeting of the LWF/GNC on May 30, the other German churches
supported and endorsed Wuerttemberg's bid for the Assembly.

The Assembly is the highest decision-making body of the LWF, meeting every
six years. At an assembly, delegates from all LWF member churches take
major decisions on the future work and direction of the LWF. They share
experiences and discuss questions and themes that confront their churches.
In July 2003, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada hosted the Tenth
Assembly in Winnipeg, under the theme "For the Healing of the World."

Assemblies of the LWF since its 1947 founding in Lund, Sweden have taken
place as follows: 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 (2003).

(676 words)

*There are around 170 participants in this year's Council meeting,
including representatives from the LWF member churches on the 49-member
governing body. Also attending are officials from LWF partner organizations, invited guests, stewards, interpreters and translators, and LWF staff.
The Council is the annual governing body meeting between Assemblies held
every six years. The current Council was appointed at the July 2003 Tenth
Assembly in Winnipeg, Canada. It comprises the President, Treasurer and 48
persons elected by the Assembly. Other members include advisors, who are
ordained and lay persons representing the different LWF regions.

During the Council Meeting, the LWF Office for Communication Services can
be reached at mobile telephone No. +972 52 378 1673.

*	*	*

(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 total membership of nearly 66 million. 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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