wfn.org | LWI News in Brief - 18 October 2000

[FRANKI@elca.org]

Barbel Wartenberg-Potter is Germany's third woman bishop

Barbel Wartenberg-Potter was elected on September 23 as the new bishop
of the Holstein-Lubeck district of the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran
Church, becoming the third female Lutheran bishop in Germany. Eight
years ago Maria Jepsen was elected bishop of the North Elbian church's
Hamburg district, becoming the first female bishop of a Lutheran church
in Germany. Since 1999 Margot Kassmann has been bishop of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover.
Wartenberg-Potter was born in 1943 in Pirmasens/Pfalz. She studied
Germanistics and theology graduating in high school teaching. She was
ordained pastor of the Evangelical Church in Wurttemberg in 1980. The
emphasis of her professional tasks included ecumenical and women issues.
^From 1977 to 1980 she was involved in adult education. In 1980 she was
appointed director of the World Council of Churches (WCC) sub-unit on
Women in Church and Society in Geneva. From 1985 to 1990
Wartenberg-Potter taught at the University of the West Indies. In 1991
she was in charge of a congregation in Stuttgart/Botnang. Since 1997 she
has been the chairperson of the Joint Working Group of Christian
Churches in Germany, whose headquarters are in Frankfurt.
Women occupy nearly all the top offices of the North Elbian Evangelical
Lutheran church. Since 1991 the leader of the North Elbian Synod has
been President Elisabeth Lingner. The leadership of the Social Service
Agencies in Schleswig Holstein and Hamburg is also in the hands of two
women-Rev. Petra Thobaben and Rev. Annegrethe Stoltenberg. The Presiding
Bishop of the Schleswig district is Bishop Dr. Hans Christian Knuth. The
church leadership of North Elbia consists of six men and seven women.
There were two other contestants for the post of bishop of
Holstein-Lubeck-Provost Heide Emse (54) from Ahrensburg near Hamburg,
and Pastor Martin Schindehutte (50) from Hofgeismar in Hesse.
Wartenberg-Potter was elected on the third round of voting, gaining 73
of the 129 votes cast, against 51 votes for Provost Emse. Schindehutte
dropped out after the second round of voting. 
The 56 year-old theologian will be installed on 1 April 2001 in Lubeck
Cathedral, succeeding Bishop Karl Ludwig Kohlwage (67) who is retiring.
The bishop-elect is married to Rev. Dr. Philip Potter, former WCC
general secretary.

Churches react to "Dominus Iesus"

Recently, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) responded to the Vatican
document "Dominus Iesus" -  On the Unicity and Salvific Universality of
Jesus Christ and the Church, published Sept. 5 by the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith, and to a "Note" on the expression of "Sister
Churches" issued on June 30. In a statement on September 8, LWF general
secretary, Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko, reaffirmed the Federation's commitment
to ecumenical dialogue saying "ecumenism is not optional but essential
to the Church." Below are reactions from some LWF member churches: 
Argentina: Following the publication of Dominus Iesus, the Evangelical
Church of the River Plate (IERP) has asked the Roman Catholic Church in
Argentina to clarify its future involvement in ongoing ecumenical
dialogue among the Argentinian churches. In a letter to the head of the
Bishops' Conference, Monsignor Estanislao Karlic, Rev. Juan Pedro Schaad
and Juan Abelardo Schvindt, president and general secretary of the IERP
respectively, said the Vatican declaration had produced a "feeling of
confusion" particularly in a country where Lutherans and Roman Catholics
were making progress in the common understanding of the Doctrine of
Justification following the signing of the Joint Declaration in Augburg,
Germany last year. The Lutheran church noted that joint theological
studies and participation in various dialogue commissions have in "our
churches" not only achieved excellent official relations but brought "us
reciprocally" more and more in communion "with the one Church of Jesus
Christ of which we confess we are a part."
Brazil: The publication of the Vatican document, Dominus Iesus
coincided in Brazil with a regular meeting of a joint Catholic-Lutheran
commission of which the focus is ecumenical dialogue. At its third
meeting, September 7 - 8, (already planned in 1998) the commission
issued a joint statement in which it affirmed as a body of "Christian
churches" to work for fidelity to the Gospel. The 25 commission members
drawn from both Christian communities, recalled the signs of unity
already existing in the Roman Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran
communities, citing the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, daily
sharing of experiences, cooperation in social projects and in the Year
2000 Ecumenical Fraternity Campaign. They said Dominus Iesus, not only
"risks closing doors opened by ecumenical efforts during recent decades"
but also threatens to recreate "religious polarization" and stir up "old
rivalries". The commission also reaffirmed that there is a union link
among all the baptized who invoke Jesus Christ's name; among all created
in the image of God, even if they do not declare themselves Christians
and among all people called to the service of God's kingdom. Catholics
make up around 75 percent of Brazil's 164 million people. About 10
percent of the population are Protestants and other Christian
denominations.
Denmark: Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark (ELCD) bishop, Karsten
Nissen, has described Dominus Iesus as disheartening because it
concludes that the other churches are not churches in the real sense.
Writing in Denmark's Christian Daily the bishop of Viborg stated: "We
[ELCD] can probably live with being deprived of the name church, but
what about the millions of Catholics around the world who have placed
their hope in a genuine approach between the Protestant churches and the
Roman Catholic Church? What about Christians in the Protestant churches
who in various ways have worked for a furtherance of unity? What about
all the common challenges that are facing the churches in a still more
secularized society?" Nissen hoped Danish Catholics would say whether
the document issued by Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith, is the view of the Roman Catholic Church
on Protestantism.

Be bold, Lutheran bishop tells youth leaders in East Africa

Bishop Zacharia Kahuthu of the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church (KELC)
has urged youth leaders in the Lutheran Communion in Central and Eastern
Africa (LUCCEA) to be bold when addressing issues that concern them in
the church and society. Delivering a keynote address at a LUCCEA youth
leaders' and workers' meeting held in Nairobi, Kenya recently, Kahuthu
challenged the leaders to always give the "right message" and "on time"
to the youth in their churches. The meeting hosted by KELC brought
together youth leaders from the sub-regional body, which coordinates
eight churches, seven of which are LWF members.

Tanzanian prime minister hails contribution of Lutheran church

Tanzania's Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye has described the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) as a pillar behind the
progress of the people of Mbulu region in the northeast. Premier Sumaye
singled out the valued contribution of the Lutheran Hydom Hospital in
providing much needed medical services to the area residents. He was
addressing thousands of mouners who thronged the Mbulu Lutheran
Cathedral to attend a burial service for the late Bishop Yoram Girgis,
who died on September 7 of illness at the age of 64. Sumaye said the
late Girgis "had linked spiritual and other human needs by supporting
Government efforts to provide social services to the people." The Acting
ELCT Presiding Bishop Dr. Erasto Kweka implored other leaders to emulate
the life and witness of the late Girgis "who was a man of integrity and
related well with other people." The late Girgis was installed as the
Mbulu Diocese bishop in 1986. 

Augusta Victoria Hospital protests to Israeli authorities

At a meeting of the East Jerusalem Hospital Forum (EJHF) on October 11,
representatives of five hospitals including the Lutheran World
Federation-administered Augusta Victoria Hospital, resolved to write a
letter to the Israeli authorities discussing the difficult humanitarian
issues affecting patients and staff following the recent tightening of
the border between the West Bank and Jerusalem. Under the EJHF umbrella,
the hospitals in East Jerusalem are also exploring the possibility of
staging a peaceful demonstration to highlight the difficulties faced by
the health institutions following escalated violence in the region. They
are planning a "white coat march" between AVH and Makassad Hospital-the
main Islamic hospital in East Jerusalem-of which participants would also
include religious leaders from the Muslim and Christian communities.

Brunswick church sends young "ambassadors" to India, Japan and Namibia

A group of eight scholarship holders from the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Brunswick in Germany have left for several weeks/months of
internships with partner churches in India, Japan, Namibia and the
United Kingdom. In July, Bishop Dr. Christian Krause, the president of
the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) bid the group farewell in the
Wolfenbuttel church headquarters. Krause described the visits abroad as
"practical reconciliation and peace work." Living together with
foreigners was a "political issue at the moment." Anyone who had
experienced this kind of encounter would not fall prey to xenophobia any
more, Krause said. As "ambassadors" of the Brunswick church, though, the
youth actually were "coming home in many respects", as they were guests
of a Lutheran church in the respective foreign countries. One of the
scholarship holders is Christine Rieke from Wolfsburg, who will be
working with homeless people and alcoholics in the Japanese city of
Osaka for six months. Martin Wiesjahn from Goslar will spend six months
in India, working in an educational facility for disabled and
non-disabled people. Johanna Burger from Dresden wants to experience a
"different view of Germany" in Namibia. She is planning to work in a
kindergarten in Windhoek. The scholarships are granted by the Brunswick
church's "Stiftung Okumenisches Lernen" (Foundation for Ecumenical
Learning) that has been in existence for four years. Tenth graders from
all school types can participate in the selection process. Each year, up
to twelve scholarships are provided. The scholarship holders receive DEM
300 per term and participate in seminars and work camps. In the fourth
year, the scholarship is concluded by the visit abroad.

Long-term emergency aid, World Service and Development - LWF at the
EXPO

Reinhard Tietze was the first of the Lutheran World Federation's (LWF)
World Service staff to arrive in Hanover for the world exhibition EXPO
2000. He is stationed in the West African country of Liberia. In late
August he came to the EXPO-city on a special mission, driving a truck
that was packed with a refugee tent, a water-purifying system, special
energy and protein food, and hygiene packages. The aim of his campaign
in the context of the world exhibition, which runs from June 1 to
October 31 under the theme "People-Nature -Technology" was to turn
people's attention to the civilian victims of the civil war in Sierra
Leone's hinterland. Between August 20 and September 3, visitors could
get a close-up and practical experience of the complexity of emergency
programs, and also get an idea about just how much it costs to do such
work. The small exposition focused on what is required in an emergency
to supply a civilian population in need. The campaign also aimed at
showing that emergency aid by itself is not sufficient, and that "world
service" is also done in Germany. As a partner organization of Bread for
the World-the aid agency of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD)
Social Service Agency (Diakonisches Werk) and the German Evangelical and
Lutheran churches-and of government development aid, World Service is
mainly known in those countries where for over 50 years it has been
helping people irrespective of their individual, religious or political
conviction. The exhibition also included worship services in the
Herrenhauser Church, and "Info Talk" events dealing with the topics
"God and the Foreigners", "Refugee Aid and What Comes Next", and
"Xenophobia in Germany". The exposition was supported by staff from the
Treffpunkt Weltkirche and parish members of Herrenhauser Church. Many
visitors were most interested in small crosses from Liberia that were
made from cartridge shells. They are a symbol that the Liberian
population desires the establishment of stable peace in that country.
Prior to the DWS exposition, the LWF Department for Mission and
Development (DMD) had already presented LWF projects in Hanover with its
exhibit "Sustainable Development."

(The LWF is a global communion of 131 member churches in 72 countries
representing over 59 million of the world's 63 million Lutherans. Its
highest decision making body is the Assembly, held normally every six
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.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the information service of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Unless specifically noted, material
presented does not represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its
various units. Where the dateline of an article contains the notation
(LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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