wfn.org | Kenyan Lutheran Bishop Calls for Biblical Discussion on 'Healing'

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

Kenyan Lutheran Bishop Calls for Biblical, Unambiguous Discussion
on 'Healing'
Opening Worship of the Africa Pre-Assembly Consultation in Nairobi

NAIROBI, Kenya/GENEVA, 27 March 2003 (LWI) - Kenyan Presiding
Bishop Walther Obare Omwanza has urged Lutheran churches to
conduct discussion on the theme of the forthcoming Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) Tenth Assembly, in a biblically and doctrinally
unambiguous, and precise manner.

"There is always a danger looming around our churches - that we
are being presented fashionable agendas which are not genuinely
biblical, not Lutheran," cautioned Omwanza, head of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK), when he addressed
representatives of the LWF member churches in Africa, attending
the March 23-26 Africa Pre-Assembly Consultation (PAC) in the
Kenyan capital Nairobi. "For the Healing of the World," the LWF
Tenth Assembly theme is very much exposed to this danger, he
noted.

"Our eternal healing is eschatological. It is the healing in the
wounds of the Lamb of God, [the] forgiveness of our sins, our
justification by faith for Christ's sake without any deeds and
works of our own. This is the healing, which is our mandate as
churches," the ELCK bishop said.

Bishop Omwanza pointed out that [in Africa,] the Lutheran and
other traditional churches are challenged by fast-growing, dynamic
and popular neo-Pentecostal movements whose main agenda is the
healing of the world. He noted that this personal and collective
healing is expected to be received in a supernatural way by faith
in the miracles of the Holy Spirit, and cautioned that
Christianity is then understood "less as the doctrine of salvation
than as a method of achieving temporal health wealth." The appeal
and power of this "new all-encompassing spiritual tidal wave
supported by its links with traditional African religions" should
not be underestimated, he cautioned.

Around 110 church representatives, including delegates to the
Assembly, attended the Africa PAC, the region's preparatory
meeting prior to the Assembly. It was held jointly with the All
Africa Lutheran Leadership Conference, a forum for all church
leaders in the 29 LWF member churches on the continent. The LWF
Tenth Assembly will take place 21-31 July 2003 in Winnipeg,
Canada, hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada.

The Nairobi consultation was the fourth of five regional
conferences in the run-up to the LWF Tenth Assembly. The PAC's
focus is to study the theme and content of the Assembly from the
viewpoints of the different regions.

The African PAC was hosted by the ELCK and Kenya Evangelical
Lutheran Church (KELC). The ELCK has about 55,000 members and has
been an LWF member since 1970, while the KELC, with a membership
of 30,000, joined the LWF in 1992. LWF member churches in Africa
have a total of 11.9 million members in 21 countries.

The first regional PAC was held January 23-26 in North America, in
Denver, USA, followed by one for the European region, February
23-26 in Vienna, Austria, and by the Asian PAC, March 2-6 in
Medan, Indonesia. The regional consultation for Latin America and
the Caribbean will take place April 6-9 in San Salvador, El
Salvador. The Women's Pre-Assembly Gathering was held 14-19
November 2002 in Montreux, Switzerland. A global youth conference
will take place in July 2003 near Toronto, Canada.

At the Tenth Assembly in Winnipeg, around 1,000 participants are
expected, including the 436 delegates from the 136 LWF member
churches. The Assembly is the LWF's highest decision-making body,
meeting normally every six years.

(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 76 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 LWF's information service.
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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