From the Worldwide Faith News archives www.wfn.org


Deepening Partnerships, Seeking New Ways of Cooperation


From "Frank Imhoff" <Frank.Imhoff@elca.org> (by way of George Conklin <gconklin@igc.org>)
Date Sat, 06 Jan 2007 13:50:28 -0800

Deepening Partnerships, Seeking New Ways of Cooperation Regional Conference of LWF Member Churches in Russia and Baltic States

VILNIUS, Lithuania/GENEVA, 22 December 2006 (LWI) * The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is an important instrument for building communion, and finding common answers to the challenges confronting the churches. This conclusion was drawn by participants in the regional conference of the LWF member churches in the Baltic States and Russia, held from 25 to 28 September in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius.

Sub-regional meetings were necessary for building mutual understanding and trust, the 30 conference participants stated. They represented Lutheran churches in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States, and churches and their related organizations and agencies from Germany, Finland, Sweden and the USA.

According to Rev. Dr Kjell Nordstokke, director of the LWF Department for Mission and Development (DMD), the main concern of the conference was "to deepen our partnership and seek new ways of cooperation." In respect to the DMD-published LWF document on mission titled, "Mission in Context: Transformation, Reconciliation, Empowerment * A Contribution of the LWF to the Understanding and Practice of Mission," Nordstokke said the central challenges, as stated in the publication, was how to discern today's changing understanding of mission in church and society and to formulate a theological understanding of mission. The DMD director said the goal was still to strengthen the church's understanding of itself as a missional church and to deepen its gospel practice of mission.

Ways and means of being in mission were discussed in plenary. The special role of the LWF was highlighted and its supportive function at the different levels of mission theology, including sharing the experiences from other regions. It was noted that the LWF was an instrument of coordination to put churches into contact and communication with each other and to encourage mutual responsibility and commitment. It was thus the responsibility of churches to accompany one another and enable experiences in partnership, participants said.

Rev. Dr Eva-Sibylle Vogel-Mfato, LWF/DMD area secretary for Europe stressed that evangelization was directed more inwards, to the building up of churches. "Our church members are being attracted into secularism. We need inward assurance and strengthening of the faith in order to be able to walk our path as Christians in today's world," she said. Mission was about transforming the whole person through God's spirit. In order to accompany one another and encourage spiritual growth, church practice required appropriate methods, which was a challenge to practical theology and training, she noted.

The conference also focused on the question, "What holds us together as a Lutheran communion?" based on a presentation by Rev. Dr Karen Bloomquist, director of the LWF Department for Theology and Studies. The subsequent discussion took up the question of the Lutheran understanding of ecumenical fellowship. "Being Lutheran means being ecumenical," Bloomquist underlined.

The third area of discussion around "human sexuality," in particular the practice of individual member churches regarding the blessing of same-sex couples, clearly indicated the need to continue the discussion. Bishop Mindaugas Sabutis of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania reported on the progress of the eight-person LWF Task Force on Family Marriage and Sexuality, which was set up in 2004 with the aim to provide helpful background material and support for discussion on this issue within LWF member churches and in the Lutheran communion. Sabutis, himself a member of the working group, reported that the LWF Council would receive the report of the task force at its March 2007 in Lund, Sweden.

Several participants at the Vilnius conference expressed the expectation that the LWF would continue to engage in the necessary biblical, theological, historical and ethical reflection on this topic. A task of the LWF task force is also to take up questions about whether, and if so, how the life realities and principles impairing church unity can be handled with differing hermeneutical approaches to scripture and different ethical attitudes. (This story is based on a report by Marina Chudenko, ELCROS press officer.)

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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 66.2 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and interfaith 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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