wfn.org | Lutheran World Federation marks 50th anniversary

[David Pomeroy <wfn@igc.apc.org>]

LWF celebrates 50th anniversary
5,000 attend Sunday Eucharist

HONG KONG, July 25, 1997 (lwi) - Lutherans around the world marked the 50th
anniversary of the Lutheran World Federation with special worship services
Sunday, July 13, to coincide with celebrations at the LWF Assembly, meeting
in Hong Kong, July 8 - 16.

People from all parts of the globe led the Assembly's Sunday afternoon
service which was attended by about 5,000 people at the Hong Kong
Convention and Exhibition Center. Bishop April Ulring Larson of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was presiding minister. Bishop Horst
Hirschler of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover was the preacher,
and Bishop Kin Sun Kinson Pong of the Chinese Rhenish Church, Hong Kong
Synod, was the assisting minister.

The LWF should not celebrate its anniversary "by being enthusiastic about
our achievements," Hirschler said in his sermon. "We do not point to
ourselves, and we do not point to [Martin] Luther. No, with Luther we point
to Christ. And in doing so we are serving the unity of Christianity
worldwide."

Worshipers celebrated the past assemblies held during the LWF's 50 years
with a Litany of Thanksgiving in which they prayed, "O Triune God, we
remember with thanksgiving your faithfulness to our mothers and fathers
whose courage and vision created the possibility of a global Lutheran
communion."

They also looked to the future, "We pray for this Federation, that it may
continue to use its manifold gifts to serve with mercy in the world and to
build up the whole body of Christ."
One hundred school children from Lutheran schools in Hong Kong danced in
the center of the worshipers with four flags waving as a symbol of the LWF
coming together from the four corners of the world. Dancers from the Hong
Kong Lutheran Dance School provided an interpretation of the lesson from
Isaiah.

The music reflected the various traditions of LWF-members churches but with
a distinctly Chinese flavor woven in. The hymn "God, who made the stars of
heaven," composed for the 50th anniversary, was sung as a prayer of
thanksgiving.

The composer is I-to Loh, Tainan Theological Seminary, Taiwan. The text is
by the American, Ruth Duck. There was a 380-voice choir of  Hong Kong
Lutherans, directed by Mabel Wu; the 38-voice Copenhagen Boys' Choir,
directed by Ebbe Munk; the Ludwigsburg Brass Quintet from Germany, and
musicians playing traditional Chinese instruments as well as piano, organ
and guitar.

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