LWF President Hanson Pays Tribute to Hungarian Lutherans First Official Visit as LWF President to Member Churches in Europe
BUDAPEST, Hungary/GENEVA, 8 November 2006 (LWI) - In his first official visit to a Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member church in Europe as LWF President, Bishop Mark S. Hanson paid tribute to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary (ELCH) for its significant contributions to the Federation. He particularly mentioned the church?s hosting of the LWF Seventh Assembly in Budapest in 1984.
During his visit to Hungary (26 - 29 October) and Romania (29 October - 2 November) Hanson met with church and government leaders. His wife, Ione, accompanied him.
Speaking to the leadership and pastors of the ELCH on 26 October, Hanson said that the Seventh Assembly was "a very significant" one in the life of the Federation, as it declared that the LWF member churches understood themselves to be in ?pulpit and altar fellowship? with each other. Also, the Assembly, as a matter of confessional integrity, suspended membership in the LWF of two churches of Southern Africa whose lives had been organized around a principle of "whites only" thus upholding South Africa's apartheid policy at the time. The gathering also lifted the roles of women and youth in all aspects of the LWF's life and work.
"We want to continue to work for the full inclusion of women and youth in the LWF," said Hanson, who was elected LWF president at the 2003 Tenth Assembly in Winnipeg, Canada. He is presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Tribute to Bishop Lajos Ordass
Hanson emphasized the need for the ELCH members to know that they belong to a global Lutheran organization. He paid tribute to the former LWF vice-president and head of the ELCH, Bishop Lajos Ordass (1901-1978), widely respected in the Hungarian Lutheran church as he led the church through a difficult period in the country's history between 1945 and 1958.
Throughout its history the Hungarian church has been deeply affected by the prevailing political situations. Losses in membership occurred following World War I and during the Communist occupation that followed World War II through 1989, when the Cold War ended, said ELCH Presiding Bishop Janos Ittzes.
Lutheranism in Hungary dates back to the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation in the early 1600s. Today there are about 300,000 Lutherans in 300 congregations in Hungary, Ittzes noted.
The Hansons also visited ELCH's facilities for people living with physical and mental disabilities and for people in nursing care. The church?s diaconal work currently includes some 30 separate institutions in the country, serving people of all ages living with disabilities, young mothers and their children, older people in need of assisted-living or nursing home care, and feeding programs for the homeless. Plans are underway for a Lutheran hospital specializing in rehabilitation services.
LWF?s Challenges
In a meeting with the ELCH staff, Hanson spoke of the four challenges facing the LWF and its member churches today: reaching out to people of other faiths and determining how it will interact with Jews and Muslims especially; confronting HIV and AIDS; understanding the Word of God and the authority of Scripture; and meeting its financial needs to remain a viable and interdependent organization.
The Hansons were shown the original handwritten Last Will and Testament of Luther, a document written in the 1540s. It was presented as a gift to the Hungarian Lutheran church in the 19th century and has remained in the church's possession since.
Preaching in a Lutheran congregation in Pilis near Budapest on 29 October, the LWF president pointed out that freedom was a gift from God given through Jesus Christ, and that Christians cannot achieve freedom on their own. His sermon focused on St Paul's letter to the Galatians.
Referring to Martin Luther's writing in "The Freedom of a Christian," Hanson noted that Luther said that in Christ, Christians are free and servants at the same time, and that "we are free to serve our neighbor." He compared the text to the lives of most Hungarians under Communist rule. "You in Hungary know the way of the cross. You kept the gospel alive during years of repression," he said.
Hanson pointed out that the LWF's mission in the world was similar - "free in Christ for the sake of the neighbor." He cited such examples as providing medical care to Palestinians through the Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem, and working for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; working for human rights where there are repressive governments; and working with people of other faiths to end hunger in the world.
"We will stand with those who mourn, those who are meek and those who yearn for justice. This is the promise of the gospel. This is the heart of the Reformation," the LWF president concluded. (801 words)
(ELCA News Service)
* * *
(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 66.2 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 news 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 Editor?s E-Mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org