wfn.org | LWI News in Brief

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

LWI News in Brief

- Lutherans, Pentecostals Engage in Conversation
- LWF Joins Protest Ahead of WTO Negotiations
- LWF Leads Panel Discussion at WSIS PrepCom Meeting
- Third Lutheran Woman Bishop in Norway
- Church of Sweden Archbishop Hammar to Resign in 2006
- Archbishop emeritus Jaan Kiivit Dies
- Kazakhstan's Retired Bishop Peter Urie Dies

Lutherans, Pentecostals Engage in Conversation

Seeking to deepen mutual understanding of their respective communities
and lay the groundwork for long-term dialogue, a group of Pentecostal
scholars and Lutheran World Federation (LWF) representatives met for the
second time, September 10-17, hosted by the Institute for Ecumenical
Research in Strasbourg, France. 

Participants explored the discussion topic, "How Do We Encounter
Christ?" both theologically and with a view toward devising an
ecumenical methodology appropriate to both traditions. Keynote
co-presenter Dr Veli Matti Kaerkkaeinen, professor of Systematic
Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, USA, stressed that
while Pentecostals want to be sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit,
they are first and foremost Christological in their focus. Lutheran
theologian Dr Kenneth G. Appold, research professor at the Institute for
Ecumenical Research, Strasbourg, said Lutheran theology describes
encounters with Christ as something mediated through Word and
Sacraments. The ensuing discussion revealed substantial areas of
agreement on central issues such as justification by faith and the
normative role of Scripture for religious experience. 

The group will meet for three additional years beginning in 2006. Future
gatherings will study ways in which each tradition encounters Christ in
proclamation, sacrament and charisms. The next meeting is expected to
take place in Pasadena, California, USA.

A first preparatory consultation was held in December 2004. (217 words)

*   *	*

LWF Joins Protest Ahead of WTO Negotiations

To denounce the present situation in ongoing trade talks, the so-called
"Doha Round," representatives of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF),
with delegates of other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide,
participated in a demonstration ahead of important World Trade
Organization (WTO) negotiations. The talks are seen to be doing little
to help developing countries out of poverty

The protest took place in Geneva, October 15. One of the speakers, Mr
Michael Kuehn, LWF Department for World Service (DWS) field program
representative in Haiti talked about the situation in the Latin American
country where cheap subsidized imports from developed countries were
increasingly undermining local production. "Economic globalization as it
is happening now is not working for us and for the people we are
concerned about," he said. Trade, he added, "is not just an economic
issue. It affects the lives and livelihoods of millions of people across
the world."

The LWF was also active in the October 17-21 WTO week of debate and
discussion in Geneva. Lobbying meetings with trade negotiators took
place to sensitize people dealing with specific issues about concerns of
economic justice. Discussions also were held with developing countries'
trade representatives to seek the involvement of civil society in
achieving a greater measure of economic justice in the negotiations.
(216 words)

(See also http://www.lutheranworld.org/news/lwi/en/1707.en.html)

*   *	*

LWF Leads Panel Discussion at WSIS PrepCom Meeting 

"Communication Rights and a Rights-Based Approach" was the title of a
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) panel discussion held during the final
Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meeting of the second phase of the World
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) at the United Nations offices
in Geneva,  September 19-30. 

Civil society at this final meeting was active with around 170
accredited organizations. Much of the work was centered around following
and advocating civil society positions within the two key governmental
agenda items: to investigate and make proposals on future governance of
the Internet; and, future mechanisms for implementation of the Action
Plan and follow-up of the Summit. Beyond the official governmental
negotiations, civil society organized some 125 side events. 

The meeting was the last prior to the 16-18 November WSIS Summit in
Tunis, Tunisia, where the LWF will be represented. (148 words)

*   *	*

Third Lutheran Woman Bishop in Norway

Rev. Helga Highland Byfuglien was appointed bishop of the Diocese of
Borg in Norway, on September 23, becoming the third woman among the 11
Church of Norway bishops. Byfuglien succeeds Bishop Ole Christian M.
Kvarme, now bishop of Oslo. She will be installed during a worship
service in the Cathedral of Fredrikstad on December 11. 

The bishop-elect describes the church's main challenge as how to pass on
the "message of love, forgiveness and hope in such a way that people
find our words and deeds relevant," reports the Church of Norway
Information Service.

Byfuglien, born in 1950,  has held positions in the dioceses of Nidaros
and Borg. She is also chairperson of a national project to reform
religious education in the church. Since 2001, she has been Secretary
General of the Norwegian Young Men's and Young Women's Christian
Associations (YMCA and YWCA.)

The Church of Norway, a state church, has over 1,200 clergy of whom
about 12 percent are women. Its first woman bishop, Rosemarie Koehn, was
appointed to the See of Hamar in February 1993. Rev. Laila Riksaasen
Dahl has been bishop of the Diocese of Tunsberg since February 2003.

Eighty-six percent of Norwegians belong to the 3.9 million-member Church
of Norway, which joined the Lutheran World Federation in 1947. (217
words)

*   *	*

Church of Sweden Archbishop Hammar to Resign in 2006

After nine years of service as head of the national Church of Sweden,
Archbishop K. G. Hammar has announced that for personal reasons he will
resign from office next summer. Election procedures for a new archbishop
are scheduled to begin next January, a news release from the church
stated.

Some 87 percent of Swedes belong to the 7.2 million-member church, which
joined the LWF in 1947. (75 words)

*   *	*

Archbishop emeritus Jaan Kiivit Dies

Archbishop emeritus Jaan Kiivit Jr of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran
Church (EELK) died August 31, aged 65, during an official visit to St
Petersburg, Russia. 

In a letter of condolence to the Estonian church, General Secretary of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko says Kiivit was
a faithful representative of his own church and of the churches of the
LWF region of Central Eastern Europe. "His voice was always greatly
respected among sisters and brothers within the global Lutheran family,"
Noko notes.

Kiivit, son of former EELK Archbishop Jaan Kiivit Sr, was ordained in
1966. He served nearly 30 years as pastor of Church of the Holy Ghost in
Tallinn. He became archbishop in 1994 until his retirement last
February. Prior to election as head of the Estonian church, he served as
a member of the consistory. He also taught practical theology at the
theological institute in Tallinn.

Archbishop Kiivit Jr was a member of the LWF Council from 1997 until
2003, and served on the then Standing Committee for Ecumenical Affairs.

The 200,000-member EELK joined the LWF in 1963. Archbishop Andres Poder
heads the church since last February. (198 words)

*   *	*

Kazakhstan's Retired Bishop Peter Urie Dies

Former bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of
Kazakhstan (ELCRK), Rev. Peter Urie died September 15, aged 50, after a
long illness. Urie had resigned from office in summer for health
reasons.

In a condolence letter to the ELCRK, General of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF), Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, paid tribute to Urie's strong
vision for the church's sustainability. The acknowledgment that he could
no longer realize this vision was certainly a heavy blow for him. "His
work for the global Lutheran family and his commitment to building up
and sustaining the church in Kazakhstan will never be forgotten," Noko
wrote.

Urie was born in 1955 in Salzwedel, Germany. From 1975 until 1978 he
pursued training as a preacher at the Gnadau Theological Seminary in
Falkenberg, Germany, and then worked in the districts of Bitterfeld,
Wittenberg-Graefenhainichen and as a pastor in Radis, Germany. In 1997
he was seconded to serve the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and
Other States (ELCROS) where he was pastor then superintendent of the
Evangelical Lutheran congregation of St Peter and St Paul in Moscow,
Russia.

Prior to his election as bishop in December 2000, he was head of the
Moscow district of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of European Russia.
Rev. Juri Nowgorodow succeeded Urie as ELCRK bishop in June this year.

The ELCRK is an ELCROS member church. Its 228 congregations in 1993 are
down to 52, due to the emigration of many of its members. These
congregations are currently served by ten pastors, 35 preachers and 17
Sunday school teachers. (267 words)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 140
member churches in 78 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.]

*   *	*

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

LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
P. O. Box 2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel.: +41/22-791 63 69
Fax: +41/22-791 66 30
E-Mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org