wfn.org | German Lutheran Official Reports Poor Economic Conditions in Germany

[ELCANEWS@ELCASCO.ELCA.ORG]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

August 19, 1997

GERMAN LUTHERAN  OFFICIAL REPORTS
POOR ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN GERMANY
97-CA-32-DM

     PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- Economic problems in Germany have created
conditions ripe for right-wing extremism and challenges for the church, a
German Lutheran official  told the Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America here Aug 14-20.
     The Rev. Helmut Edelmann, ecumenical officer of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Germany, reported that unemployment has reached as high
as 20 percent in some areas of eastern Germany.  The historic Protestant
and Roman Catholic churches in that country have issued a "strong warning"
over the gap between rich and poor, between those with housing and those
who are homeless.
     The church, too, is facing problems as a result of economic
conditions, Edelmann said.  He said extremists have burned down a church
building and are harassing a bishop.  Although the state churches receive
funds from church taxes, they also depend on offerings from church members.
But income through offerings is decreasing rapidly, and the church is
unable to employ students of theology as it once did.  The result is "a new
situation for evangelization and mission," Edelmann said.
     The German church official, one of more than a dozen "ecumenical
guests" invited to the assembly, also encouraged the ELCA in its ecumenical
endeavors.  The assembly, meeting here through Wednesday, has had three
major ecumenical proposals -- with three Reformed church bodies, the
Episcopal Church and the Roman Catholic Church -- before it.

For information contact:

Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html