wfn.org | Council Endorses Proposal for Addition to LWF Name

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

Affirmation of 1990 Understanding of LWF as a Communion of
Churches

LWF Council Meeting, Wittenberg, Germany, 10-17 September 2002

Press Release No. 21

WITTENBERG, Germany/GENEVA, 17 September 2002 (LWI) - Members of
the Council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) endorsed a
proposal for an addition to the present name of the Federation, so
that the acronym LWF would mean "The Lutheran World Federation * A
Communion of Churches." This change was affirmed with the
understanding that should the full name prove to be too long for
practical reasons, the present name without the addition also
remains valid. In both instances, the LWF remains the normal
acronym.

The Council accepted this proposal from the Standing Committee for
Ecumenical Affairs, when committee Vice-Chairperson, Bishop Eero
Huovinen, Finland presented recommendations from a joint session
between the Standing Committee and the Program Committee for
Theology and Studies. The two committees were responding to the
report of the General Secretary on "The Nature of the LWF as a
Communion of Churches." This report was the outcome of the
findings of a task force appointed by the General Secretary upon a
2001 Council recommendation to initiate discussion on the
possibility of a name change for the LWF. The committees had
underlined that the time was not right for a name change, and
recalled the most far-reaching change so far in the ecclesial
character of the Federation * the 1990 Curitiba Assembly adoption
of the present onstitution, which defines the LWF as a communion
of churches.

Apart from name change, other concerns raised in the report and
discussed by the committees included deepening and strengthening
communion, the possibility of common assemblies with the World
Council of Churches (WCC) and other church organizations,
synodical ways of considering global unity and changes in the LWF
governing bodies.

The Council also asked the Executive Committee to consider ways in
which the financing of the continuous core functions in the area
of theology and ecumenism may be supported by the Geneva
coordination budget. The committees had discussed the August 2002
General Secretary's letter to the Council responding to the 2001
Council resolution calling for a financial plan of action for
theology and ecumenism in the LWF.

In addition, the Executive Committee was asked to establish a
small group to carry out a strategic planning process for theology
and ecumenism in the LWF, taking into specific consideration the
Department for Theology and Studies, Office for Ecumenical Affairs
and Institute for Ecumenical Research, Strasbourg.

On the current developments in the WCC including the Orthodox
participation in the Council, the LWF Council affirmed the
continued ecumenical role of the WCC today and in the time head.
The Council asked the LWF General Secretary and Strasbourg
Institute to carefully follow and contribute to the developments
regarding the participation of the Christian world communions in
the WCC.

Other actions by the LWF Council on the report of the theology and
ecumenical affairs committees included the appointment of
Archbishop Georg D. Kretschmar, Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Russia and Other States, as the current co-president of the
Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission following the resignation of
Bishop emeritus William H. Lazareth, Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America. Bishop Esbjoern Hagberg, Church of Sweden, was
endorsed as a new Commission member, replacing retired Bishop Lars
Eckerdal.

TheCouncil received the final reports of the Anglican * Lutheran
International Working Group, and the Lutheran * Reformed Joint
Working Group and asked the General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Ishmael
Noko to send these documents to the LWF member churches for study
and response.

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 75 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 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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