wfn.org | Challenges for mission into the Third Millennium

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

Lutheran churches urged to equip congregations for witness

NAIROBI, Kenya/GENEVA 23 November 1998 (lwi) - The Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) Global Consultation on Churches in Mission which met in
Nairobi late October (see lwi 21/22) has sent a message to LWF member
churches urging them to encourage congregations to renew, train and equip
each baptized Christian to be a witness for Jesus Christ and therefore a
missionary empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit.

The consultation meeting under the theme, Into the Third Millennium:
Together in God's Mission, brought together over 70 participants from LWF
member churches, mission societies and related agencies from LWF's seven
regions.

In a letter drawn at the end of the four-day LWF (DMD) consultation from
25 to 29 October, participants noted it was the first opportunity since
the LWF Ninth Assembly in Hong Kong in July 1997 that LWF member churches,
mission societies and related agencies were coming together and
recommitting themselves to being Christ's witnesses.

The meeting brought to the attention of the church leaders the emphasis on
mission by the Ninth LWF Assembly. The Assembly urged member churches to
strengthen missiological and missionary efforts to deepen the
understanding of the Gospel and explore new ways of sharing Christ's love
"with people who do not yet or no longer know Christ as their Lord and
Saviour."

The missionary vocation, the consultation noted, implies listening to
needs, recognizing spiritual and material gifts and responding with
witness and ministry that is holistic.

In the message to the church leaders, the consultation stressed the need
to strengthen Lutheran unity and ecumenical partnership in mission.
"Christ in our midst calls upon us to mission within our varied
communities and contexts not for the sake of the church, but for the sake
of God's mission," it added.

Acknowledging that churches and the communities where they serve confront
many harsh realities, burdens and obstacles in many regions of the world,
the consultation underscored that in spite of these setbacks, the church
in many places is vibrant, confident and innovative.

The message to the churches notes: "We listened and were enriched by the
multiplicity of experiences and the renewed and emerging models for
mission within our worldwide communion."

It also underlines continuing missiological study that affirms the gifts
of churches in diverse contexts, in a way that this would include emerging
needs such as globalization, violence and poverty.

Having affirmed the significant role of the LWF in continuing to develop
models and expressions of multilateral partnership in mission, the LWF
consultation drew the attention of the churches to the emerging need for
coordination and facilitation of expanding networks of bilateral
relationships.

Structures, mutual accountability and transparency, planning, decision
making and sharing of human, material and financial resources, must all
become part of the renewal of inclusive relationships for partnership
together in God's mission, the letter to the churches say.

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: jbn@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/