wfn.org | The Lutheran World Federation now has 128 member churches

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

Three churches accepted as full members, one associate
Press Release 14/99

BRATISLAVA, Slovak Republic/GENEVA, 1 July 1999 (lwi) - The Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Mozambique, Lutheran Church in Singapore (LCS) and
the Malagasy Protestant Church in France (Fiangonana Protestanta
Malagasy Aty Andafy (FPMA) have joined the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF) as full members, while the Japan Lutheran Church (JLC) becomes an
associate member of the LWF.

The additional new membership into the federation effectively pushes the
number of LWF member churches from 124 to 128. Out of the total number,
125 are full members while three are associate members. The four new
members were officially accepted into the LWF during the Council meeting
in Bratislava from 22 to 29 June 1999. Previously, the LWF had two
associate members namely the Lutheran Church of Australia and the
Evangelical Lutheran Free Church of Norway.

Registered in 1994, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mozambique,
(Igreja Evangelica Luterana em Mozambique (IELM)) has 1,357 baptized
members, five ordained pastors and 14 congregations. It is a member of
the Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa (LUCSA), a regional expression
body comprising Lutheran churches in the southern Africa region, and the
Christian Council in Mozambique (CCM). This being the first LWF member
church in Mozambique, the federation is now present in 70 countries
worldwide compared to 69 before.

Constituted as an independent church in 1965, the Lutheran Church in
Singapore has 3,258 members, seven congregations and 15 ordained
pastors. It has ecumenical affiliations with the Lutheran Church in
Malaysia and Singapore, Lutheran Church of Australia, Lutheran Mission
in Thailand, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thailand, Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Bavaria, Germany.

The FPMA, which now has 8,000 members, was granted autonomy by the
Federation of Protestant Churches in Malagasy (FFPM) in 1996. The new
LWF member church has ecumenical affiliations with the Church of Jesus
Christ in Madagascar (FJKM/Reformed), Malagasy Lutheran Church (FLM) and
the Departement Fran‡ais d'Action Apostolique (DEFAP). It is also a
member of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), Federation of
Christian Malagasy Churches of France (FFKM-France) and the Federation
Protestante de France (FPF).

The JLC's relationship with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LC-MS)
in the United States of America dates back to 1948. The JLC declared
itself a self-governing indigenous Japanese church in 1968 although it
was registered as a church body in 1953. In 1966, the church and the
LWF-member Japan Evangelical Lutheran Church declared the "Establishment
of Pulpit and Altar Fellowship" and the "Agreement on Cooperation in
Theological Education", and in 1987 signed the "Declaration on
Cooperation in Mission" with the Lutheran Church in Korea. The JLC has
3,040 baptized members.

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