wfn.org | LWI 2009-021 Church Must Focus Involvement on Injustice, Hunger and Poverty

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Church Must Focus Involvement on Injustice, Hunger and Poverty
Consultation Makes Visible Global Network of Lutheran
Theologians 

AUGSBURG/GENEVA, 30 March 2009 (LWI) - In the future, the
worldwide Lutheran communion must make overcoming injustice,
hunger and poverty the central focus of its action, emphasized
Dr. Margot Kässmann, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Hanover, in a press conference on 26 March in Augsburg, Germany,
during the consultation "Theology in the Life of Lutheran
Churches: Transformative Perspectives and Practices Today."

Both the theological consultation and the Eleventh Assembly of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) to be held in Stuttgart,
Germany, in July 2010 will contribute to a broadening of horizons
on the eve of the Reformation jubilee in 2017. Kässmann called
the theme of the LWF Assembly "Give Us Today Our Daily Bread" a
"theological and political" challenge. 

"Lutheran churches should focus together on the transformation
within the worldwide communion," insisted Rev. Dr Karen
Bloomquist, director of the LWF Department for Theology and
Studies (DTS). According to Bloomquist, Lutheranism since 1517
has undergone considerable change. For the sake of the future of
the Lutheran church, it is of paramount importance to strengthen
the connections between theology and the life of the church.

According to Dr Bernd Oberdorfer, who holds the chair of
Protestant theology at the University of Augsburg, the
consultation, from an academic point of view, is of great
significance for the worldwide Lutheran communion, in particular
because it clearly brings out the multiple dimensions of Lutheran
theology. The consultation is a unique opportunity to explore
what ties Lutherans to the roots of the past and what new avenues
of future reflection and action can be traced, the theologian
said. 

For Rev. Dr Guillermo Hansen, currently associate professor of
systematic theology at the Luther Seminary in St. Paul,
Minnesota, USA, the Augsburg gathering "makes the worldwide
network of Lutheran theologians visible." This meeting was an
exceptional opportunity for theologians from all over the world
to come face to face in order to dialogue, the Argentinian noted.

"To be in Augsburg is spiritually and theologically a homecoming
for me," said Dr Ramathate Dolamo of South Africa. In addition,
the consultation has a future perspective, because it offers the
possibility to better define the Lutheran self-understanding. "As
theologians, we must respond to the needs of the congregations,"
the theology professor pointed out. For this reason, the
theological debate at the meeting is of fundamental importance. 

Over 120 theologians from more than 30 countries are taking part
in the consultation "Theology in the Life of Lutheran Churches:
Transformative Perspectives and Practices Today" in Augsburg,
Germany, under the auspices of the LWF Department for Theology
and Studies (DTS). The 25 to 31 March meeting, held in
collaboration with the Institute of Protestant Theology of the
University of Augsburg, is the culmination of the DTS study
program "Theology in the Life of the Church," which has been
ongoing since 2004.

More information on the consultation is available at
http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/DTS/DTS-TLC_Augsburg.html

>*        *          *

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