wfn.org | Indian Lutherans Affirm Greater Involvement in Poverty and

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

Indian Lutherans Affirm Greater Involvement in Poverty and Development
Issues 
Call for 'Church-based Sensitivity' in PEAD Discussion 

DUMKA, India/GENEVA, 16 December 2005 (LWI) - The 26th Triennial
Conference of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI)
concluded in the northeastern town of Dumka, Jharkhand State, with a
commitment to greater involvement in the contextual challenges of the
Indian Lutheran churches. 

"The Indian Lutheran communion will continue to be prophetic and
proactive in addressing key issues like poverty, development, HIV/AIDS,
capacity building, gender justice and empowerment," delegates attending
the UELCI governing body said in a final statement.

One of the subjects discussed at the UELCI conference was the Proposed
Ecumenical Alliance for Development (PEAD), a topic that was also on the
agenda of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Council meeting last
September. The Indian Lutheran churches called for more "church-based
sensitivity" in ongoing discussions about PEAD, in order to protect the
diaconal theology, challenges and responsibilities of churches in the
South. 

While the Indian Lutheran churches welcomed all forms of coordination
for proper use of resources by the proposed global alliance for
development, they appealed for a greater role of the churches in shaping
the process. (See http://www.lutheranworld.org/news/lwi/en/1739.en.html
for the LWF Council discussion on PEAD.)

Some 120 delegates, visitors and guests attended the November 20-22
conference hosted jointly by the Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church
(NELC) and Gossner Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chotanagpur and Assam
(GELC), both in Jharkhand State. Under the theme "Growing Together with
God," representatives of the Indian Lutheran churches discussed their
respective areas of work and concerns as presented in reports of the
UELCI Executive Secretary, Rev. Dr Chandran Paul Martin and other
officers. 

Delivering the keynote address, Rev. Dr Kjell Nordstokke, director of
the LWF Department for Mission and Development encouraged the UELCI
churches to be purpose-driven churches. Basing his presentation on the
LWF mission document, "Mission in Context: Transformation,
Reconciliation, Empowerment - An LWF Contribution to the Understanding
and Practice of Mission," he emphasized the need for "new models of
mission and partnership that affirm good governance and holistic mission
as central to the churches' work." 

A significant event of the gathering was the ordination of NELC's
women's leader, Rev. Lucia Tudu, the second woman to be ordained as a
pastor in the church in a period of 25 years. Also ordained was Rev. Ram
Chandra Singh, the first convert from the Mal Paharia tribe. He
translated the New Testament into Paharia language, the first
translation of the Bible into that language. The NELC is led by a
moderator, Rev. Shiblal Soren. 

During the triennial conference, Martin was re-elected UELCI executive
secretary. The president is Bishop Gideon Devanesan Rajagembeeram, Arcot
Lutheran Church. 

The Chennai-based UELCI is a communion of eleven member churches, ten
of which belong to the LWF. The churches with a combined membership of
nearly two million Christians are spread out mostly in eastern and
central India, and the northeastern states. 

The Lutheran communion in India is predominantly Dalit and Adivasi.
Each member church has its own unique cultural and historical context,
with different mission histories. It was founded in 1926 as the
Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India, and went through
various changes before adapting its current name in the mid-1990s. (541
words)

(Mr Mrinal Srikanth Lankapalli and Rev. Raj Bharath Patta reported on
the UELCI conference.)

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(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.]

*	*	*

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