wfn.org | LWI News in Brief

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@ELCA.ORG>]

LWF President Krause Meets Representatives of Namibian Churches

The president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Bishop Dr. Christian
Krause urged LWF member churches to see themselves as an expression of the
worldwide Lutheran communion in their respective countries. Krause, who is
also bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick, Germany, made
these remarks when he met students and Lutheran pastors from Windhoek and
representatives of the LWF Namibia National Committee (NNC). Lutherans make
up around 46 percent of Namibia's 1.6 million people.

The LWF president also spoke of the implications of the Joint Declaration on
the Doctrine of Justification, signed by LWF and the Roman Catholic Church
on 31 October 1999 in Augsburg, Germany. In Namibia the Roman Catholic is a
founding member of the 12-member ecumenical Council of Churches in Namibia,
to which also belong Lutheran churches. The LWF has three member churches in
Namibia-the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia, the German-speaking
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia and the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in the Republic of Namibia, which make up the LWF-NNC.

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Slovak Churches, Religious Societies Discuss Collective Agreement with State

Delegates of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Slovak
Republic were among representatives attending a consultation to discuss
preparation toward a collective agreement with the state. The March 30
meeting for the eleven churches and religious societies which are formally
registered with the government was organized by the Ecumenical Council of
Churches in the Slovak Republic. Ecumenical council president, Presiding
Bishop J?lius Filo of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in
Slovak Republic said the churches and religious societies expressed interest
in a common text but intend to sign the pact with the state as separate
entities. The inspiration for the framework and content of the text is a
contract between the Vatican and the Slovak Republic which was ratified by
the Slovak parliament and signed in autumn 2000. Such a contract would
essentially open up possibilities for individual churches and religious
societies to sign agreements with the state, independently or together,
concerning various areas of interest including education, economics, social
affairs and services. The joint approach expresses the intent of the eleven
entities represented at the consultation to create uniform, basic conditions
for their activities irrespective of their size, therefore reflecting a
commitment to the principles of equality and democracy. (Contributed by Dr.
Eva Bachletov , press secretary, Evangelical Church of the Augsburg
Confession in the Slovak Republic.)

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Reconciliation in Kenyan Church

Harmony has been restored between rival groups in the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Kenya (ELCK) ending a five-year rift that stemmed from
disagreement over procedures for the election of the church's first bishop
in 1995. ELCK communication director Rev. Joel M. Ogutu reported that the
"step forward" was the result of a pastors' conference under the theme,
"Come Together, Reconcile, Forgive and Forget". Before the 21-24 November
2000 conference, several reconciliatory meetings had been held in an attempt
to bring the groups together but these had not produced positive results.
Speakers at the pastors' gathering included Rev. Dr. Vivian Msomi, Area
Secretary for Africa, Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Department for Mission
and Development. In his address Msomi emphasized that reconciliation could
not be achieved until those seeking to be reunited accept "to forgive each
other, forget and go in peace." Although the title chairperson for head of
church was used since the ELCK's inception in 1948, there were some
proposals for the term bishop. In 1995 the ELCK constitution was changed and
the title bishop adopted for the head of the church. On 6 October 1996 Rev.
Francis Nyamwaro Onderi, formerly the church's chairperson, was installed as
the first ELCK bishop, a position he holds to date. The 55,000-member ELCK
joined the LWF in 1970. With its headquarters in Kisii, western Kenya, the
Lutheran church has around 80 pastors serving in 33 church districts with
over 100 parishes. Another LWF member church, the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran
Church with offices in Nairobi, has a membership of 23,000.

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US Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue Begins Drafting New Statement

The 10th round of talks in the United States between the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops (USCCB) began drafting a statement on "The Church as Koinonia of
Salvation: Its Structures and Ministries" when representative teams from
both churches met March 29-April 1 at St. Paul's College, Washington, D.C.
"Koinonia" is an anglicized Greek word that appears several times in the
Christian Bible and is translated as "fellowship, a close mutual
relationship; participation, sharing in; partnership; contribution, gift."
The dialogue is taking up issues of koinonia as they relate to "ordained
ministry and structures of church unity." In this sixth meeting of the
round, discussion focused on the relationships of the congregation, parish,
synod and diocese with the ordained ministries that serve them. The dialogue
moved from research on biblical, historical and theological differences and
common faith on the nature of the church as a "communion of salvation" to
the task of drafting a text for its final report. "The candor and mutual
respect which has marked our dialogue from the very beginning remains a
clear sign of God's grace in our midst as we seek the unity which Christ
wishes for us all," said Catholic co-chair, the Most Rev. Richard J. Sklba,
auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee. "We have
learned to respect our differences as well as to affirm the deep issues we
share about our faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. This style of doing
dialogue in itself holds great promise for the eventual outcome of our
dialogue," said Rev. Charles H. Maahs, bishop of the ELCA Central States
Synod, Shawnee Mission, Kansas, Lutheran co-chair of the dialogue. The USCCB
and the U.S.A. National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
initiated the first round of the "bilateral" dialogue that began in 1965. It
has produced a number of common statements on such topics as Scriptures,
saints and justification by faith. In 1999, the LWF and the Vatican
the Doctrine of Justification. The ELCA is one of the LWF's 131 member
churches. The 10th round of talks in the United States builds on the
recommendations, content and method of the Joint Declaration. (ELCANEWS)

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Women Outnumber Men Among Theology Students in Denmark

More than a third of the pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Denmark (ELCD) are women, but among the students of theology they clearly
outnumber their male colleagues. Church News from Denmark, the information
service of the Council on International Relations of the ELCD reports that
more than 60 percent of students at the theological faculties at the
universities in Copenhagen and Aarhus are female. A survey published in the
Christian Daily, a local church newspaper, says this development has not
altered the fact that the church leadership is dominated by men and the
training of future pastors likewise. Only one tenth of the bishops and deans
are women, and only four women have become doctors of theology since 1973.
The ELCD joined the Lutheran World Federation in 1947. It has 4.5 million
members representing more than 90 percent of the Danish population.

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Churchwide Mission, Goals for Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America

The executive board of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(ELCA) adopted a mission statement and five goals that will guide the
organization's work through at least 2002, when a new three-year ministry
emphasis begins. This follows an extensive self-assessment that began in
November 1999. The board at its meeting in Chicago, March 22-24 2001, asked
for review and comment on the recommendations from synod women's
organizations and other interested parties for possible further action at
its October 2001 meeting. The mission statement adopted by the board is "to
mobilize women to act boldly on their faith in Jesus Christ." The Women of
the ELCA aim to: achieve sustainable intergenerational connections that are
meaningful and relevant; build communities that are cohesive, diverse,
dynamic, compassionate and just, based on common interests, concerns and
commitments; authentically name, voice and respond to issues affecting women
through awareness, education, action and advocacy; to assess the present
structure, relationships and programs of the organization and to use
demographic information and organizational research as a basis for all
planning. As a partner in the total ministry of the over 5.1 million-member
ELCA, Women of the ELCA affirms, supports and challenges women in their
daily ministries at home and around the world. (ELCANEWS)

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Germany's Third Woman Bishop, Baerbel Wartenberg-Potter Installed 

At a festive worship service on April 1 2001 Baerbel Wartenberg-Potter was
installed as bishop of the Holstein-Luebeck district of the North Elbian
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany. The 57-year-old becomes the third
woman bishop in Germany after Maria Jepsen, Hamburg, and Margot Kaessmann,
Hanover. She succeeds Karl Ludwig Kohlwage, 68, who has retired. Delivering
her sermon at the Luebeck Cathedral Wartenberg-Potter said the church is
called to consciously advocate for the ordinary people, the poor and the
excluded in society. Born in Pirmasens/Pfalz, Wartenberg-Potter was ordained
pastor of the Evangelical Church in Wuerttemberg in 1980. Before becoming
bishop of Holstein-Luebeck, Wartenberg-Potter was chairperson of the Joint
Working Group of Christian Churches in Germany. She has also worked in
Geneva at the World Council of Churches (WCC) as director of its sub-unit on
women in church and society. Her husband, Rev. Dr. Philip Potter is a former
WCC general secretary.

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Gerhard Maier Installed Bishop of Wuerttemberg

On 28 April 2001, Gerhard Maier was installed bishop of the Evangelical
Church in Wuerttemberg. Before 22 bishops and around 2,500 invited guests at
the Ulm Cathedral, retiring Bishop Eberhardt Renz presented his successor
with the golden bishop's cross symbolizing the change of office bearer.
Maier, 63, formerly Superintendent of Ulm, is the ninth bishop in the
history of the Wuerttemberg church. The chairperson of the Council of the
Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Manfred Kock, Bishop Renz and Rev.
Eagle Ndambambi of the Brotherhood Church in South Africa conducted the
laying of hands on the new bishop. During the ceremony invited guests
including Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan Serafim and the Luebeck Bishop
Baerbel Wartenberg-Potter formed a circle around the altar. In his sermon
Maier said people expected from the church and its offices not perfection
but love. The Baden-Wuerttemberg prime minister Erwin Teufel spoke at a
reception hosted for the newly installed bishop. - (Translated from an
epd-Evangelische Pressedienst article)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 131 member
churches in 72 countries representing over 60.2 million of the nearly 64
million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches
in areas of common interest such as ecumenical relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various
aspects of mission and development work. Its 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 acknowledgement.]

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