wfn.org | LWI News in Brief 06-2002

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Poland: New Common Hymnal Introduced by Four Churches

A new hymnal, "I will sing a new song to you, O God" (Psalm
144.9a), was recently introduced jointly by the Evangelical Church
of the Augsburg Confession  in Poland, Evangelical Reformed Church
in Poland, Silesian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession
in the Czech Republic and Lutheran Evangelical Church of the
Augsburg Confession in the Czech Republic. The project received
support from the Lutheran World Federation and from Germany's
Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Bavaria and Brunswick, Gustav
Adolf Agency and Martin Luther Federation. The new Polish hymnal
is modeled on the Bavarian edition of the new Protestant Hymnal.
More than a third of the choruses are of German origin.

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Rachel Doumbaye Wanguerem, First Ordained Lutheran Woman in
Central African Republic

On 21 April 2002, Rachel Doumbaye Wanguerem was installed as a
pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Central African
Republic (EEL-RCA), becoming the first woman to be ordained in the
church. "As a church that is concerned about the proclamation of
the gospel in this part of Central Africa, we needed to engage
without any discrimination, the service of ordained women and men
in the ministry," EEL-RCA President, Andre Zoule told Lutheran
World Information (LWI) following the historic ordination in the
south western town of Abba, where the church was founded in 1930.
It was his hope that this would encourage other women to pursue
theological education. Wanguerem, 42, a widow and mother of five,
was the first woman to be admitted to the EEL-RCA seminary in
Baboua in 1994. "People thought it was impossible for me because I
had too much to do: the children, the housework, the fields, my
studies, and I was alone," she told The Lutheran, the magazine of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Since November 2000,
she has been teaching at the Baboua seminary. The 55,000-member
EEL-RCA joined the Lutheran World Federation in 1974.

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Small Signs of Reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians

In June nine Israeli and nine Palestinian youth aged between 10-14
years were guests of the city of Genzano, near Rome, for an
initiative aimed at encouraging peaceful dialogue and the meeting
of different peoples. Every year the city hosts a flower festival
for peace with a popular tradition of making floral mosaics on the
city central streets. The children actively participated in
meetings and programs on peace and conflict resolution. The visit
was coordinated by Confronti, the magazine for inter-religious
dialogue.
(From NEV - press service of the Federation of Protestant Churches
in Italy)

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Maria Jepsen re-elected Bishop of Hamburg

The Synod of the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church,
re-elected Maria Jepsen, 57, bishop of Hamburg, for a second
ten-year term. Jepsen, at her historic election in April 1992
became the first Lutheran woman bishop in the world.

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Cooperation between East German Churches Hailed, State Urged to
Maintain Support

The prime minister of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Harald Ringstorff
(Social Democratic Party [SPD] has hailed the relationship between
the two Protestant churches in the east German state. The main
topic at this year's meeting in Zuessow between the state
government and representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
of Mecklenburg and Evangelical Church of Pomerania was the
church's youth work. Hans-Ulrich Kessler of the Pomeranian church
office in Greifswald explained that in view of the limited
opportunities for young people in their homes and towns, it was
important to offer them hope. Ringstorff pointed out that the
actual situation was not as hopeless as described publicly. He
encouraged youth to show more independent initiative. Both sides
praised the work being done together by schools and churches in an
ethical guidelines' program that has been running for three years.
However, the churches expressed regret that the state planned to
cut government spending toward the maintenance of monuments, which
serve not only as a source of great cultural value, but are a
major employer in the building industry. The government has been
assisting with the upkeep of 1,100 church monuments. The
230,000-Mecklenburg church joined the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF) in 1947, while the Pomeranian church, with 129,283 members
joined in the LWF in 1956.

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German Protestant Kirchentag 2007 Comes to Cologne

The German Protestant Kirchentag (Church Convention) in 2007 will
be held in Cologne, Germany at the invitation of the Rhineland
church. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria had also
extended an invitation to the Kirchentag, which would have been
held in Nuremberg. The Kirchentag Presidium said they had chosen
Cologne because a Kirchentag had been held in Bavaria more
recently than in Rhineland. Cologne last hosted a Kirchentag in
1965. The 1979 church convention took place in Nuremberg. In 2003
the first Ecumenical Kirchentag will be held in Berlin. In 2005
Hanover will be the venue for the Protestant Kirchentag.

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General Secretary of Ethiopian Church Visits Slovakia

Last May, Rev. Megersa Guta, General Secretary of the Ethiopian
Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, (EECMY) visited the Evangelical
Church of the Augusburg Confession in the Slovak Republic. It was
agreed that the Slovak Church would support the theological
training of an Ethiopian student, with about USD 1,000 annually.
Assistance is also planned for an EECMY project for mentally
handicapped children.

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Belarus: Bishop Leonid Zwicki Voted out of Office

On 1 May 2002 the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Belarus (WELK), Leonid Zwicki, was unanimously voted out of office
in absentia by a special meeting of the Synod. He was accused of
failing to properly account for funding received from abroad,
before his election as bishop on 11 March 2001. The founding of
the WELK and installation of Zwicki as bishop had been criticized
last year by Archbishop Georg Kretschmar of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States (ELCROS) and by the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The founding of an independent,
"confessional" church in Belarus would weaken the work of the
Lutheran church in Belarus, according to Kretschmar. The ELCROS
could not welcome the emerging new, separate church. The WELK
leadership has informed ELCROS of plans to work on a new approach
at its regular Synod meeting in autumn. Rev. Kastus Mordwinzew
will head the WELK in the interim period.
(From Diaspora-Informationen, MLB)

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Austria: Lutherans Favor Opening the Eucharist to children

"The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria
invites and admits all baptized persons to participation in the
celebration of Holy Communion." These are the words of a proposed
resolution to the church's 12th Synod next October in St. Poelten.
The June 3 recommendation from the synod's Theological Committee
was agreed on unanimously. It supports opening the Eucharist to
children. The statement of the rationale for this says: "In the
New Testament all baptized persons are invited to participate in
the Eucharist, regardless of their age." Most other Christian
churches allow children to participate, and in future children
should also be prepared for the celebration of the Eucharist.
Confirmation classes should continue to devote a substantial
amount of time to the meaning of the Lord's Supper. The
Theological Committee's statement said further that its proposal
is in line with efforts "to make the Evangelical Church overall a
more friendly church towards children." The Evangelical Church of
the Augsburg Confession in Austria has 340,906 members and has
been a member of the Lutheran World Federation since 1947.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 133 member churches in 73 countries representing over 60.5
million of the 64.3 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 acknowledgment.]

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