wfn.org | First Asian Lutheran Conference Held in Hong Kong

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 3, 1999

FIRST ASIAN LUTHERAN CONFERENCE HELD IN HONG KONG
99-08-49-BW

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The first Asian Lutheran International
Conference brought 80 participants and 10 stewards (local arrangements
people) from 22 countries Jan. 22-26 to the Lutheran Theological
Seminary in Hong Kong.  Participants explored and reflected on the theme
"Asian Lutheranism: Which Way?" through a series of presentations,
responses and discussions.
     "We worshiped; heard papers read by Asian and Asian American
theologians; debated issues of culture, missiology and theology; met in
groups of pastors, bishops, seminary presidents, and teachers; planned
continuing cooperation; networked with one another; and participated in
the life of the Lutheran Church in Hong Kong," reported the Rev. Stephen
P. Bouman, bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
     The conference was developed in response to an initiative that
came from the Association of Asians and Pacific Islanders of the ELCA
during its biennial assembly July 26-28, 1997, in Los Angeles.  The
association proposed such a conference based on four observations:
     * Many Asian ELCA members are recent immigrants with strong ties
to their homelands;
     * ELCA Asian congregations face some of the same challenges faced
by Lutheran congregations in Asia;
     * ELCA Asian congregations seek assistance from churches in Asia;
and
     * Asian pastors and theologians in the United States have long
felt the need to engage in theological reflection relevant to their
cultural backgrounds.
     The diverse perspectives and experiences of Asian Lutherans in
Asia and North America emerged through a process of presentations and
responses, worship, greetings, small group discussions, panel
presentations, church visits and table fellowship.
     "Traditionally the church has been a center that nurtured and
preserved culture and developed the leadership among its members which
led the church during good times and hard times," said the Rev.
Frederick E.N. Rajan, executive director for the ELCA Commission for
Multicultural Ministries.  "The church has been the fountain of hope
during the hopeless times.  During its course in history, the church
served as the 'bridge over troubled waters' when nation and society were
torn apart in racial strife."
     "In an increasingly diverse and pluralistic society such as the
United States, and indeed in  many parts of Asia, we are witnessing
rapid social and ecclesiastical change with regard to race, ethnicity
and culture.  In addition, with the divergence of many religions in our
landscape we are increasingly becoming a religiously pluralistic
society," said Rajan.
     "The history of ministry with Asians in this church is brief,"
Rajan told participants.  "The initial Lutheran witness among Asians
began in the United States in the 1940s.  Asian Lutheran membership in
the United States is estimated to be 30,000; of this more than 22, 000
are in the ELCA."
     The first Asian Lutheran congregation in the United States was
established in 1946 by The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
     "In the 1950s the United Lutheran Church in America -- a
predecessor church of the ELCA -- began a ministry with Japanese
Americans in Los Angeles.  This led to the first Japanese American
congregation, Lutheran Oriental Church, organized in 1975 near Los
Angeles," said Rajan.
     "Slowly but steadily the ministries among Asian Americans began to
expand.  This was witnessed by the organization of the first 
Mandarin-speaking Chinese ministry in 1968 by the Rev. Wilson Wu. 
The first Hmong ministry began in 1982 at St. Simeon's Lutheran Church in
Philadelphia.  The first Vietnamese Lutheran congregation was started in
1983 by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod in Garden Grove, Calif.  The
first Laotian ministry was started in 1983 at Zion Lutheran Church in
Rockford, Ill., the first Korean ministry in 1985 at First Lutheran
Church in Los Angeles, and the first South Asian ministry in 1997 in
Chicago,"  Rajan said.
     This growth and expansion of ministry continues even to this day. 
At the end of 1997, the ELCA had 65 Asian congregations," he said.
     Congregations worship in several Asian languages: Mandarin,
Korean, Cantonese, Lao, Hmong, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Thai,
Japanese and Urdu.
     "Today this young ministry, with a 50-year history and with 22,000
members and 109 clergy, stands at the crossroads and faces enormous
challenges and opportunities.  As we enter the new millennium we are
bracing for exceptional growth.  We are also contributing significantly
to the emergence of a strong and energetic multicultural America," said
Rajan.
     "This is the first time that Asian church leaders from the United
States have had the opportunity to communicate with church leaders in
Asia," said the Rev. Pongsak Limthongviratn, ELCA director for Asian
Ministries and program director for the conference.  "We see this lack
of communication as a common division among Asian people.  We want to do
a better job of evangelism and mission outreach.  We want to establish a
network that will enable us to accomplish this goal."
     "We must do a better job of assisting Asian ministries in the
United States in becoming active and alert with regard to Lutheran
ministries around the globe.  When we talk about doing better ministry,
we need some type of help from the church leaders in Asia.  For example,
Asian congregations still import ethnic language resources from Asia. 
We need to find a way to send a message to church leaders in Asia to let
them know that the United States  is their mission field.  If they want
to do missionary work in America, we can work together," said
Limthongviratn.
     "This conference brought about a lot of excitement and hope that
this would not be the first and only conference.  The next conference is
planned for 2001.  No decision has been made yet on a location," he
said.  A steering committee of 10 members, five from Asia and five from
the ELCA, will meet once a year to implement any action plan recommended
by the conference.
     Several goals emerged from the 1999 conference and are areas for
further discussion:
     * Develop and create an Asian theology that is responsive to the
Asian and Asian American context for mission and ministry that expands
the understanding and expression of being a Lutheran Christian.
     * Strengthen the relationships between North American and Asian
churches based on partnership, interdependence and mutual support.
     * Analyze, critique and seek to understand the dynamics of culture
and tradition within the Asian and Asian American contexts and apply
these learnings in congregational ... and theological endeavors.
     * Analyze the dynamics of being an Asian Lutheran Christian in the
midst of pluralistic contexts, especially in situations where Asian
Lutheran Christians are in the minority.
     *  Discuss, study and develop understanding of the relationships
among service, proclamation, mission, justice and evangelism in the
Asian and Asian American contexts that will help churches to respond
faithfully to God's mission in Asia and among the Asian diaspora.
     The conference recommended four actions:
     * Encourage the Advisory Committee on Theological Education in
Asia (ACTEAS) to explore and develop Asian American linkage with
Lutheran church bodies in the Americas.
     * Ask ACTEAS to help build solidarity among Asian Lutheran
seminaries and encourage cooperative activities and programs for the
common cause of mission.  Some suggested activities include: publishing
articles about Asian theological concerns and Asian ministries through
existing journals, publishing a home page one the world wide web,
encouraging faculty and student exchanges among Asian and North American
seminaries, providing internship sites for students in Asia, sharing
common concerns with existing institutions and organizations, proposing
and encouraging Lutheran seminaries in North America to have at least
one Asian on each faculty, and fostering a climate for partnership among
seminaries.
     * Encourage and support ongoing dialogues on issues that surfaced
during the first Asian Lutheran International Conference and ask that
the Department of Mission and Development of the Lutheran World
Federation work with partner churches in developing and implementing
ways for these issues to be discussed and addressed.
     * Invite and encourage Asian Lutheran church bodies represented
and not represented at the first Asian Lutheran International Conference
to send representation to the next conference.
     The conference was sponsored by the ELCA's Association of Asians
and Pacific Islanders, Commission for Multicultural Ministries, and
Division for Global Mission, and by the  Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Bavaria and the Department for Mission and Development of the Lutheran
World Federation.

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