wfn.org | LWI 2008-061 Church Leadership Responsibility Elaborated at LWF Regional Meeting

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Church Leadership Responsibility Elaborated at LWF Regional
Meeting 
Increasing Secularization Remains a Major Challenge

GREIFSWALD, Germany/GENEVA, 3 October 2008 (LWI) - The
responsibility of church leaders was deliberated at a Lutheran
World Federation (LWF) gathering for church leaders in Europe. 

"It is a major responsibility of those exercising leadership
positions in the church to make people-both inside and outside
the church-see why the church is important," explained Rev. Dr
Kjell Nordstokke, director of the LWF Department for Mission and
Development (DMD). He pointed to the document, Episcopal Ministry
within the Apostolicity of the Church - The Lund Statement by the
Lutheran World Federation - A Communion of Churches, adopted at
the March 2007 LWF Council meeting in Lund, Sweden.

The Lund Statement has been formulated as an expression of the
commonalities that exist among the Lutheran churches in teaching
and practices in the understanding of ministry, ordination and
leadership of the church. It is the outcome of an LWF study
process initiated in 2000, taking into account the context of the
ecumenical movement, in which the LWF remains a committed
participant. 

Nordstokke’s presentation titled “Contemporary Challenges of
Church Leadership,” focused on the question on how authority
could be practiced in the church. He pointed out that Jesus’
behavior challenged Christians to exercise authority and power
not as power over but as power for [people]. Therefore "it is
[the] profound dimension of grace and freedom that empowers for
exercising authority in Christian leadership at any level,
including the episcopal ministry," he told leaders from the 44
LWF member churches in Europe meeting mid-September in
Greifswald, Germany.

The DMD director stressed it was important that church leaders
were trustworthy and had the ability to communicate a vision of
where the organization needed to go. “Called to Grow, Lead and
Nurture” was the theme of the European Church Leadership
Consultation, attended by 90 bishops, presidents of churches and
synods, and other church leaders in the region. It was hosted by
the Evangelical Church of Pomerania.

Responding to Nordstokke’s presentation, Kati Myllymaeki, a
delegate from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland,
stressed the need to bring young people and women more into
church leadership positions. Congregational members should also
be encouraged to use their talents and gifts in church life in
order to strengthen the role of the congregation as a whole, she
said. 

Amid increasing secularization, the church was confronted with
the choice of losing members and thus appealing to a hard core of
regular church-goers, or becoming a participatory church by
reaching out to people where they are, noted Myllymaeki. She
recommended the latter model saying it empowered the church to
turn the passive role of its members into active involvement in
congregational life. 

>Gospel Proclamation 

Despite all changes, however, proclaiming the gospel
particularly in rapidly changing times remained the main purpose
of the church and the goal of all its pastors, said Rev. Dr
Jean-François Collange, president of the Protestant Church of the
Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine (Eglise protestante de
la confession d'Augsbourg d'Alsace et de Lorraine - EPAL) in
France.

He explained the April 2006 founding of the Union of Protestant
Churches of Alsace and Lorraine (l'Union des Eglises protestantes
d'Alsace et de Lorraine - UEPAL), comprising the Church of the
Augsburg Confession of Alsace and Lorraine (ECAAL) and the
Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine (ERAL). In order to give a
clearer expression to their common identity, ECAAL and ERAL
changed their names to the Protestant Church of the Augsburg
Confession of Alsace and Lorraine and the Protestant Reformed
Church of Alsace and Lorraine, respectively.

Collange pointed out, however, that structures were meaningless
"unless they enable the wealth of the gospel to be passed on and
lived out in a more contemporary and effective way."

In a final message, the consultation participants said they saw
the growing interest in religious matters and spirituality as an
"encouraging sign." The churches were urged to pay closer
attention to increased mobility and migration both within Europe
and throughout the world, as these challenges could not be met at
the national level alone. 

An LWF discussion process begun at the July 2003 Assembly in
Winnipeg, Canada, on "Marriage, Family, and Human Sexuality" was
also discussed in Greifswald. Regardless of varying views,
particularly with reference to homosexuality, there was an
express will to remain united within the LWF. 

The church representatives also expressed support for the LWF
renewal process, aimed at deepening the Lutheran communion.
Emphasis was made on the need for stronger cooperation in the LWF
as a whole as the renewal process could possibly reduce the
participation of European churches, especially the smaller ones.
(769 words)

The message from the LWF European Church Leadership Consultation
is available on the LWF Web site at:
http://www.lutheranworld.org/Events/Greifswald_2008/LWF_Greifswald_Message_EN.pdf

The Lund Statement can be downloaded at,

http://www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/LWF_The_Lund_Statement_2007.pdf

The Proposed Guidelines and Processes for Respectful Dialogue on
Marriage, Family and Human Sexuality are available at,
http://www.lutheranworld.org/LWF_Documents/2007_Council/Task_Force_Report-EN.pdf
(also in French, German, Spanish and Portuguese)

>*        *          *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF
currently has 141 member churches in 79 countries all over the
world, with a total membership of over 68.3 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
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