wfn.org | LCMS Delegates vote to support Lutheran imprisoned in China

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Board for Communication Services
1333 S. Kirkwood Road St. Louis, MO 63122-7295

61st Regular Convention St. Louis, Mo. July 14-20, 2001

July 20, 2001 #51

Contact: Bruce Kueck (314) 342-5715

Delegates vote to support Lutheran imprisoned in China

ST. LOUIS Delegates to the 61st Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church 
Missouri Synod (LCMS) voted unanimously on Friday, July 20, to "show 
[their] heartfelt support" for Gao Zhan, an LCMS member from Falls Church, 
Va., who has been imprisoned in China since Feb. 11.

Gao, 39, a professor and researcher at American University in Washington, 
was detained with her husband and 5-year-old son as they prepared to leave 
China after a visit with relatives. Her husband and son were released in 
early March, but Gao is still being held for alleged anti-government 
activities, a charge that is "totally nonsense," according to her husband. 
She has had no contact with her family since her arrest.

Delegates voted to show their support for Gao and her family through their 
prayers and words of encouragement. The delegates action also asks 
President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and the U.S. 
Congress to "do everything in their power to work for the release of Gao 
Zhan and others who are held unjustly by the Chinese government."

In other action, delegates voted to:
continue an emphasis on prison and jail ministry, and asked the Synod s 
Board for Human Care Ministries to "develop resources and training to 
recruit, train and equip clergy and lay volunteers" for such ministry.

support refugee resettlement by "encouraging all [LCMS] congregations, 
individually or jointly, to resettle at least one or more refugee families 
as soon as possible, utilizing the resources of & congregations and the 
expertise of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service" (LIRS). Based in 
Baltimore, LIRS is the country s second-largest resettlement agency. Last 
year, the pan-Lutheran organization helped 17,000 refugees start new lives 
in the United States.

reject the destruction of embryos for stem-cell research as "sinful and 
morally objectionable." Delegates also asked the Synod president to send a 
letter to President Bush to encourage him to "reject using public funds for 
research that deliberately and intentionally kills human beings," and urged 
the Synod s Board for Human Care Ministries to provide "resources, 
education and encouragement" on stem-cell research to the church body s 
members.

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