wfn.org | (LWF) Volunteers Make a Difference at LWF Tenth Assembly

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

LWF Tenth Assembly, Winnipeg, Canada, 21-31 July 2003

PRESS RELEASE NO. 31

Volunteers Make a Difference at LWF Tenth Assembly
Hundreds of Unpaid Helpers Make Global Lutheran Gathering a Success

WINNIPEG, Canada, 30 July 2003 - It is a trip halfway around the world from
Queensland, Australia to Winnipeg, Manitoba. But that's the journey Paul
Smith made to be a volunteer at the Tenth Assembly of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF).

Smith's wife Heidi is one of two Lutheran Church of Australia
representatives attending the July 21-31 Assembly. Smith, although an
ordained Lutheran pastor, is not one of the 380 delegates from churches with
full membership in the LWF. His church is an associate member of the
Federation. But he came along anyway and promptly applied to volunteer at the
Assembly.

Standing 188 centimeters tall and weighing 120 kilograms, Smith was assigned
to * what else? * security - at the Winnipeg Convention Centre, where the
Assembly is being held. And he is enjoying every minute of it.

"Canadians are doubly friendly to Australians," he remarked.

Smith is one of over 800 volunteers without whom the LWF Assembly could not
function. Volunteers, wearing the bright yellow bibs which identify them,
have been everywhere * transporting people to and from the airport, billeting
guests, managing traffic, assisting with translation, and performing dozens
of other tasks to make the LWF gathering a success. There are 825
participants in the Assembly including 380 delegates from LWF member
churches.

Local organizers had originally hoped for 500 volunteers.

The LWF staff is astounded at the outpouring of service from this small army
of helprs working for free. "They're just amazed at the volunteer program,"
said volunteer coordinator Ron Heimbecker.

The majority of volunteers are from Lutheran congregations in and around
Winnipeg. One of them is Harold Granke of Grace Lutheran Church. He has been
helping to staff the Canadian Lutheran World Relief booth, which is doing a
brisk business selling hand-made wooden and textile articles manufactured by
disadvantaged people overseas.

"Anything I can do to help with the church, I will," said Granke. "It's
where my heart is."

Granke said some volunteers are so keen that they are doing double shifts,
even though they are only supposed to be working part-time. "It's just
amazing."

Remarkable too, is the extent to which volunteers are willing to make a
special effort. He said a group of 22 volunteers arrived from Swift Current,
Saskatchewan July 28 to help transport delegates' luggage to the airport when
the Assembly ends July 31. The reason they deliberately came late is that
they knew the early volunteers would be tired and wanted to relieve them,
said Heimbecker.

Not all the volunteers are Canadians. About 20 percent are Americans who
drove or flew up to Winnipeg to help out after learning about the Assembly
through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Web site.

Nor are they all Lutherans. Heimbecker said volunteers from Winnipeg's
Anglican community have also done yeoman service. Canada's Lutherans and
Anglicans today share full communion, following a joint declaration signed by
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and Anglican Church of Canada. This
makes the Assembly a truly ecumenical event, according to local church
officials.

Although the Assembly ends tomorrow, volunteers have forged links with each
other that will last a long time, Smith predicted.

"I've met Canadian Lutherans and international Lutherans who I now know by
first names. And I trust that God will bless us with the opportunity of
meeting again as first-name friends," he said.

"That's my reflectin as a volunteer."

The Tenth Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is taking place
21-31 July 2003 in Winnipeg, Canada, under the theme "For the Healing of the
World." It is being hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
(ELCIC).

There are around 820 men, women and youth participants in the Tenth Assembly
including 380 delegates from the 133 churches with full membership and three
associate members. The Assembly is the highest decision-making body of the
LWF, and meets normally every six years. Between Assemblies, the LWF is
governed by its Council that meets annually, and by its Executive Committee.

Further information including photos, video and audio news, is posted on the
Assembly Web site www.lwf-assembly.org 

To order photographs, please contact LWF-Photo@lutheranworld.org 

*	*	*

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 and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission
and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.