wfn.org | Asian churches call for study on technological impact

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

LWF challenged to discern appropriate responses

CHENNAI, India/GENEVA, 12 January 2000 (lwi) - Representatives of the
leadership in Lutheran churches in the Asian continent have recommended
that the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) initiate a study on the impact of
modern technology as well as problems related to poverty and aging, and
their impact on mission and evangelism.

Participants in the Asian Church Leadership Conference which took place in
India's southern city of Chennai from 29 November to 3 December 1999 under
the theme, "Mission in Asia for the 21st Century", also proposed that the
LWF prepare programs that would focus on issues such as genetic engineering
and biotechnology and the Christian response to them.

The 68 participants drawn from among church leaders in Asia, the members of
the Asia Regional Coordinating Committee (ARCC), Advisory Committee on
Theological Education in Asia (ACTEAS), LWF Council members and advisors,
youth as well as women delegates and mission partners, recommended that the
results of such a study should be used to prepare programs to educate and
assist member churches to discern an appropriate response to issues of
genetic engineering and biotechnology in the context of mission.

In another proposal from the conference organized by the LWF Department for
Mission and Development (DMD), member churches in the region were
encouraged to initiate ways of entering into inter-faith dialogues within
the region.

On communication, the LWF member churches were challenged to rethink the
understanding of what it means to be church in view of the developing
technology and within the new understanding of communication skills.

Participants also proposed that the Asian Lutheran Press Service (ALPS) be
strengthened and revitalized as a means of communication among Lutheran
churches in Asia and that it be placed under the Office of the Asia
Regional Coordinator.

With regard to theological education, practitioners in this area were urged
to consider various issues raised in the church leadership conference and
take a bold step toward the development of theological education curriculum
that responds to the urgent needs and challenges in mission within the
Asian context.

The Asian Church Leadership Conference takes place every second or third
year. The last such meeting, then held jointly with the regional
pre-assembly consultation took place in Singapore in early 1997.

Below is the full text of the message from the conference in Chennai:

ASIAN CHURCH LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
November 29 to December 3 1999, Chennai, India
Asian Churches' Vision for Mission to the New Millennium
A Message from the Conference to the Churches

Dear brothers and sisters,

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We the
Asian church leaders representing the member churches of the Lutheran World
Federation in the region met at Chennai, India from November 29th to
December 3rd, 1999. At the very outset, we wish to affirm that we are
churches committed to our faith in Christ and that we are involved in the
Mission of God, to share God's love with all people and to enable them to
hear the Good news of Christ to the world. The theme of the Conference was
"Mission in Asia for the New Millennium."

We as churches in Asia, came together to strengthen our fellowship with
each other, to share our unique experiences in Christ for mutual spiritual
enrichment, to analyze the challenges the churches in Asia face in the
present context and to renew our commitment to the Mission of Christ to
proclaim God's message through our lives, witness and service.

We came together, with our diverse cultures, ecclesial traditions, racial
and lingual differences. It is these diversities that make the church in
Asia colorful and our spiritual experiences so rich and unique. The
Christian community in Asia is a minority (except for churches in the
Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Korea), and in all countries the church
of Christ lives and witnesses among diverse religions. The churches'
presence amidst these religions poses a very special challenge. This offers
a unique opportunity to churches in Asia to interact, dialogue, challenge
each other and to take initiatives to work with God and to create and
enrich life for all by restoring God's assured justice, dignity and fuller
life for all.

We realize that the world is becoming a global village and the attention of
the economic market of the world is on the societies in Asia. This global
phenomenon has widened the gap between the rich and the poor and the new
rich have also created new poor communities. Majority of the world's poor,
live in Asia. The churches in Asia have been actively involved in services
to the poor on humanitarian grounds. However, we seldom address the root
causes of poverty.

We recognize that religious fundamentalism, materialism, consumerism and
indifference to faith in God is on the steady increase and the signs of its
ill effects are clearly visible through premeditated violence,
self-righteousness and greed for materials and comforts, often at the
expense of the 'neighbor'. We churches in Asia are not exceptional to this
reality.

The people around the world, who are in search for a meaningful and
relevant spirituality, look up to Asia, which is considered the home of
spirituality. The churches in Asia are challenged to contribute to this
ever-growing global need for spirituality.

We confess that we as churches in Asia, for far too long, have failed in
our God given opportunity to be an effective instrument in God's mission
for witness and service. We confess that we have not been able to rise up
to the needs, to respond to new challenges posed by radically and rapidly
changing contexts in our societies. We were too busy with our own internal
affairs to the extent of forgetting to be a good neighbor to our needy
brother and sister beyond our churches.

Despite our trust in the biblical and Lutheran doctrine of "the Priesthood
of all believers" and a commitment to renew and empower every member of our
congregation, we Asian Lutheran churches confess the sin of discrimination
of people and of communities in the name of gender, age and race.

The challenges both internal and external are too many and the task is too
big and, faithful laborers are too few. We as churches in Asia understand
that God's mission takes place within specific, lived experiences of people
and within concrete historical contexts. Creative and constructive response
to the challenges posed by the most underprivileged (socially, politically,
economically, religiously and culturally), should form the nucleus of
mission. Therefore we pray that the Lord may renew empower and activate
every member in every congregation, in every church to be a prophetic
voice, proclaiming the good news of God to the poor, both spiritual and
economic. We commit to enable every member to be a missionary and impact
the lives of people to enjoy a fuller life. In this great solemn mission we
use ecclesial tools of worship, nurture, proclamation and development, at
the local and the national level. Women and men, young and elderly, lay and
clergy all have equal responsibility in God's mission.

As Lutherans we believe that the Word of God is contained in the Holy
Scriptures and directs our life in the path towards God. As endorsed by
Scripture, we affirm that women and men are created equally in the image of
God and that both are entrusted with equal responsibilities to co-create,
sustain, protect and promote life and creation. Therefore we Asian churches
reaffirm our commitment to empower women and Youth to restore justice and
ensure their full participation in both the ordained and unordained
ministries of the church. We acknowledge that culture is human made and is
not divinely sanctioned. Therefore any aspect of culture, tradition or
doctrine that limits the fullness of life of people - women, men, children
and creation - should be challenged and life assured.

The affirmation of life both in this world and the world to come is what
characterizes Mission, which is incarnational. God in Christ is a God of
life and justice for all human beings and the rest of God's creation.  God
is continually at work creating, recreating, liberating and restoring the
sanctity and integrity of God's entire creation, so that all may have life
and have it in abundance. (John 10:10; Lk.4: 18,19).  The Asian church as
the body of the Christ is called upon to submit and to incarnate herself to
meaningfully participate in God's mission.  Therefore we affirm, our hope
in the Kingdom of God and the coming reign of God which compels us churches
to embark on this continued search for relevant forms and expressions of
God's mission.

As Asian Lutheran Churches, we commend the LWF for the steps taken to break
the barrier that divided the Lutheran and the Roman Catholic Churches by
the official signing of the Joint declaration on the Doctrine of
Justification. We commit ourselves to walk and work closely with the Roman
Catholic churches in Asia in furthering God's mission of proclamation,
service and advocacy for justice.

Just before the dawn of the new millennium, we call on our churches to
renew their vision for God's mission, and continue to be co-workers with
God and with their ecumenical partners to usher in the Kingdom of God.
This is our mandate for the millennium. To that effect we commit ourselves.

(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/