wfn.org | LWI News in Brief No.07/2004

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

LWI News in Brief No.07/2004

+ Staff Changes in the LWF Department for World Service 
+ "Koinonia: Services and Prayers" - New LWF Worship Resource  

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Staff Changes in the LWF Department for World Service 

Dr Alois Moeller, Regional Representative for Central America

Since April this year, Dr Alois Moeller is the new regional representative for the Central American office of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Department for World Service (DWS). Moeller, 56, succeeds Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, who since 2003, is the DWS program secretary for development and sustainable development, also responsible for country programs in Asia, Central America and the Caribbean. 

Until 2002, Moeller was head of the policy and campaign department of German aid and development agency, "Bread for the World" in Stuttgart, Germany. From 2000 until 2002, he was project manager for the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GTZ) in Guatemala, where he was responsible for the FORIN project that coordinates government and non-governmental organizations, and institutional development of the NGO sector. Prior to that Moeller worked for nearly seven years as regional consultant for "Bread for the World" in the Central American region, based in San Josi, Costa Rica. In the mid-eighties, he worked in Costa Rica's planning ministry, with responsibility for macro-economic analysis of employment problems. 

Dr Colette Bouka-Coula New LWF Representative in Mauritania

Dr Colette Bouka-Coula, formerly LWF/DWS representative in Ethiopia, becomes the new representative in Mauritania effective September this year. She succeeds Mr Arno Coerver, who in April took up a new position as regional representative for the DWS West African region, based in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Prior to joining the DWS Ethiopia office in 2001, Bouka-Coula, 52, was the regional expression officer of the then Nairobi-based Africa regional office of the LWF Department for Mission and Development. She is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon. 

Rev. John Halvorson Appointed LWF/DWS Representative in Ethiopia

Rev. John Halvorson has been appointed to the position of LWF representative in Ethiopia. Effective mid-October Halvorson, 59, will succeed Dr Colette Bouka Coula who has moved to the DWS office in Mauritania. Halvorson joins LWF/DWS having served for more than 20 years with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) World Hunger Program based in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Between 1986 and 1987, Halvorson served as a communications officer for the LWF/DWS office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He was a pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Oakland, California, USA from 1973 until 1983. 

Barry Lynam Finance Coordinator, LWF/DWS 

The LWF Executive Committee appointed Barry Lynam as Finance Coordinator in the Department for World Service (DWS). Lynam, 48, has worked for nearly 20 years with LWF/DWS as finance administrator in the field programs in Bangladesh and Ethiopia, and then as finance coordinator for the DWS offices in the South East Asia region. He succeeds s Shirley Golding who retired this year. 

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"Koinonia: Services and Prayers" - New LWF Worship Resource 

"Spiritual Life in Community," a Lutheran World Federation (LWF) study program started in 2000, concluded in June 2004 with the publishing of a book "Koinonia: Services and Prayers." The worship book consists of liturgies and prayers in English, French, German and Spanish. It provides an additional volume of worship resources for the LWF member churches and for use throughout the world at ecumenical and multicultural gatherings.

A number of the liturgies and prayers in the 248-page book were written for the 2003 LWF Tenth Assembly in Winnipeg, Canada. Liturgical developments in recent years have influenced the choice and shape of the worship material in this book, which goes beyond "Laudamus," the LWF book of liturgies and hymns that has been published in many editions, according to the program coordinator, Rev. Dr Pdivi Jussila, who served as study secretary for worship and congregational life in the LWF Department for Theology and Studies.

The four-language publication introduces varied creative ways to speak about and pray to God. It attends to open, transparent and concrete verbal expressions of faith, which are readily accessible to people of different cultures. "Koinonia" invites worshippers to use some of the historic language and symbols, patterns and practices of the one Church. 

The book is edited by Jussila and Prof. Gail Ramshaw, LaSalle University, Philadelphia, USA. It costs EUR 10 or USD 12. Copies can be ordered from The Lutheran World Federation, Department for Theology and Studies, 150 Route de Ferney, P.O. Box 2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland. Tel. +41 22 791 6111, Fax +41 22 791 6630, E-mail Liesch@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 62.3 million of the almost 66 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith 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 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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