wfn.org | Church is a beacon of hope among city dwellers

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

LWF workshop defines strategies for church in city

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia/GENEVA, 11 November 1999 (lwi) - Practitioners in
urban ministry taking part in the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Global
Workshop on Urban Ministries which recently took place in the Ethiopian
capital, Addis Ababa, see the church as a beacon of hope and vision in
the world cities through its ministry to dwellers of these urban
centers.

The estimated 40 participants drawn from 27 countries world wide
deliberated on issues of concern not only to the Lutheran churches but
also to the wider church community in urban ministry. During the 3 to 7
October meeting, they discussed future challenges and the LWF strategies
for church in city.

The workshop which was a response to the emphasis placed on mission and
evangelism by the LWF assembly in Hong Kong in 1997, underlined that the
urban arena and its complexities should be seen as an opportunity for
new forms of mission and ministry rather than as problems to be
resolved.

Sponsored by the LWF Department for Mission and Development (DMD), the
workshop emphasized that urban ministry requires not just tolerance for
the city, but a real love for the city and its people. Participants
singled out manifold diaconic challenges such as work for justice, peace
and for life as features that are common to the different continents and
contexts.

The leader of the workshop, Dr. P‚ri Rasolondraibe, the DMD Director,
underscored the need to find a new paradigm for urban holistic
ministries and an appropriate role for the LWF in strengthening the
witness of member churches in urban centers.

Urban challenges were highlighted from three perspectives and from three
continents. Dr. Clara Jost Mafra, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, analyzed
and compared from social perspectives different approaches to urban
challenges of historical churches and the Pentecostals in the slums of
Rio. Ms Lincy Lin-Chien Tu of Taipei, Taiwan, highlighted challenges for
proclamation and diaconia from religious perspectives taking into
account the considerable growth and success in urban ministries
including emergency relief work of Buddhist groups in Taiwan. Rev.
Gisela Gross from Hamburg, Germany, presented a paper on "Poverty in the
Industrialized Society", through which she portrayed the tasks of a
church "with and of the poor" in a multi-cultural and multi-religious
city such as Hamburg. She posed such questions as "Who are the poor? Who
are the widows and orphans of our society, of our context?"

The workshop participants visited three of the Ethiopian Evangelical
Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) urban mission projects in Addis Ababa namely
an AIDS counseling center, a child's day care center, and a housing
project for poor people. The urban mission practitioners also prepared
strategic plans that will provide the basis and material for LWF
programs on urban mission from the year 2000 onwards for Africa, Asia,
Europe, North America, and Latin America together with the Caribbean.

Below is the full text of the message from the workshop in Addis Ababa:

Message
from the LWF/DMD Global Workshop On Urban Ministries

Greetings to you, our sisters and brothers, in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, from the participants in the Lutheran World Federation's
Global Workshop on Urban Ministries.   Our days in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
(Africa) were filled with learning and sharing of urban realities and
experiences from throughout the world.  We were knit together in a new
reality that our ministries have more in common than might at first be
thought.  Participating were practitioners from Argentina, Brazil,
Colombia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong (China),
Hungary, India, Indonesia, Japan, Latvia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Namibia,
Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Philippines, Senegal, South Africa,
Sweden, Taiwan, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates and United States of
America.

Cities and urban centers provide a unique and challenging setting for
ministry.  We were blessed to have the opportunity to hear about the
ministries and issues that were central to each of the regions
represented.  From our conversations, dialogues and deliberations, we,
the workshop participants, would like to offer these essential learnings
to the wider church community:

- understanding our urban realities and context is the basic issue for
the urban church - we cannot assume that the world knows who we are (the
Lutheran Church) and that our mode of ministry can thus be generic - we
must design our urban ministry models and behavior in direct response to
the present dynamics and character of our settings

- Addis Ababa, Ethiopia provided a vivid contextual setting in which to
experience complex and complicated dimensions of the urban scene - we
saw how the evangelical church can respond in appropriate and exciting
ways to human need and be a spiritual well for faith development and
hope for life

- the urban arena and its complexities should be seen as opportunities
for mission and ministry, rather than as problems to be solved - the
church has a rich field in which to articulate and deliver the message
of salvation through Jesus Christ, as well as a rich field for citizens
to work actively for justice, peace and the integrity of creation

- urban ministry requires more than a tolerance for the city or ministry
in the city,
but a real love for the city and its people

- the church conveys a message of hope that God loves the city  -
through preaching, programming, hospitality and modeling good urban
citizenship, the church can be a beacon of hope and vision for our
cities

- the church in our cities is a collective community of history, memory
and vision, a grand cloud of witnesses that embrace the varied
communities and experiences and bring them in under one canopy

 - we can do much to minister to the world as the agents of God's love
when we have the resources and plans appropriate to the need, but we
face increasing financial constraints and we must address the matter of
adequate resourcing for effective ministry in the future

- there is a need to increase the role of church as advocate within
government and municipalities to speak in a clear voice that city
planning and decision-making should be for the benefit of all, not just
the powerful, and, thus, articulate our agenda of preferential option
for the poor and the disenfranchised

- there is a necessity for "doing the business" of the church
differently, by retraining existing urban clergy as urban missionaries,
identifying and training laity and recognizing that the new occasions
before us will require new responses and new
forms of ministry

- increased poverty worldwide and the effects of globalization on our
lives and cultures will require new models for effective ministry in
every setting - so that the poor are included rather than just served,
and where diversity can be celebrated and lifted up

- it is a struggle for the church to be the church for all - diversity
of experiences, language, culture, tradition, communication, etc., make
the praxis of ministry a challenge, yet we affirm that the church is the
gospel center for all: the rich and poor, the educated and illiterate,
the native and the immigrant

- there is a need to recognize our various partners who can aid and
support us in our ministries in the city

We have been strengthened both as individuals and as a corporate church
by this workshop and time together.  We have learned that we are
companions in our quest to bring the salvific message of life in Jesus
Christ to the communities where we serve.  The church and our
understanding of who we are as Christians and Lutherans in the city have
been additionally served by this workshop as we, just a few of the
thousands of urban practitioners, have been engaged together in
revisioning our plan, praying over our future ministry and calling upon
the Lord of the church to provide our spirit with renewal and
refreshment for the tasks ahead.

We celebrate with a grateful heart and expressions of thanksgiving the
witness and presence of our sisters and brothers in the Ethiopian
Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus.  Thank you for your care of us, your
vibrant witness in your context and the prayers we now share in a common
bond for the sake of Jesus Christ.

(The LWF is a global communion of 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, held every six or seven
years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is governed by a 49-member Council
which meets annually, and its Executive Committee. The LWF secretariat
is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

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