wfn.org | Church leaders of European LWF member churches meet in Meissen

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

MEISSEN, Germany/GENEVA, 29 September 1999 (lwi) - The Church Leaders'
Conference for the European member churches of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) was held in the Evangelical Academy in Meissen, Germany
from 26-30 Sept. 1999.

Representatives in leadership positions from 38 member churches in more
than 20 European countries accompanied by the LWF Council members and
guests from other regions of the world worked on the topic "The gospel
at the dawn of the third millennium".

Europe was greatly blessed by God at the end of the century. The "Wall"
and the "Iron Curtain" fell. For that we are grateful. The end of the
nineties, however, witnessed drawbacks. In his paper, LWF General
Secretary Dr. Ishmael Noko underlined among other things that the
movement for peace did not succeed; that the respect for human life and
creation entrusted to us suffered setbacks. Family breakdown, violence
against women and children persist, the gulf between the rich and the
poor grows even wider and corruption, crime and new forms of trafficking
in human beings flourish. Even in the church we witness inner strife
which stands in the way of unity...

At the end of the "decade of religious longing" the churches of this
region are faced with the question of how the gospel can be made
relevant in an ever-changing Europe.

In his paper entitled, "The future of the church and the church of the
future", the bishop of Saxony, Volker Kress, underlined that "faith and
church life are not self-evident. They have to be striven for the hard
way". For this reason, the church of the future should be the place in
which a committed community can be put into practice and lived. Our
churches can become a home for people who have no spiritual home.

The church could give young people a feeling of belonging and safety and
offer space in the search for a meaning to life and the expression of a
type of piety of their own. This was underlined by the conference after
the next speaker, Dr. Paul Otto Brunstad from Norway, whose case study
dealt with young people's longing for identity and a future.

The churches in Europe discovered with dismay a frightening increase in
violence against women and trafficking in women since the long-awaited
political change. The LWF member churches are beginning to break the
silence over this new form of enslavement in Europe and to create
political awareness for criminal machinations. They advocate the
provision of counseling and accompaniment to these women in their
churches.

A further highlight of the meeting was Marc Landers' (Brussels) paper
"Acting in the future and the European Union". He underlined the
following: "We should recognize that Europe is no longer the center for
world decisions" and "There is a need to consider the implications
globalization will have at all levels for the shape and content of
European society."

 As churches in different social and political contexts, as folk and
minority churches in which poverty or wealth prevail, the LWF member
churches in Europe stressed again the importance of partnership among
the LWF member churches in Europe. In the middle and eastern European
churches, new possibilities came to be in church work and service which
can only be put to use through mutual support. This is equally true for
interchurch aid after the war in Europe's southeastern region and
peace-making measures between hostile ethnicities. They announced their
further willingness to explore mutual cooperation among
themselves.Worship and Eucharist services conducted by participants were
a sign of this community.

The Bible studies were led by Dr. Wilson Niwagila from Tanzania.

With gratitude and hope, the church leaders from the whole of Europe are
looking forward to the signing of the Official Common Statement together
with the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification planned to
take place on 31 October 1999 in Augsburg, Germany. They welcome the
agreements on basic truths of the doctrine of justification reached
between the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Lutheran churches
represented by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and
the Lutheran World Federation. With this the mutual condemnations of the
16th century no longer apply.

Even though in this process "full agreement in all aspects of the
doctrine of justification" has not yet been reached, nevertheless the
results will further the cause of the gospel in the forthcoming
millennium in the whole world, and make advances on the road to church
fellowship in Word and sacrament.

(The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is a global communion of Lutheran
churches. Founded in 1947, the LWF now has 128 member churches in 70
countries representing 58 million of the world's 61.5 million Lutherans.
Its highest decision-making body is the Assembly which meets every six
or seven years. Between Assemblies the LWF is governed by a 49-member
Council which meets annually, and by its Executive Committee.)

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