wfn.org | Lutheran Leaders Urged to Respond to Cry for Peace in the World

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

Lutheran Leaders Urged to Respond to Cry for Peace in the World
LWF Council Participants Attend Eucharistic Sunday Worship at Ecumenical
Centre

LWF Council Meeting, Geneva, 1 - 7 September 2004

PRESS RELEASE NO. 11-2004

GENEVA, 6 September 2004 (LWI) - Speaking against the backdrop of the
massacre of children and teachers in Beslan, Russia, and recent slayings
in Brazil, Iraq, Israel and Palestine, Rev. Lusmarina Campos Garcia
urged Lutheran leaders not to lose sight of peace. 

"As long as peace is not a reality in the world, we cannot stop seeking
it. How we respond to the outcry of peace shows how committed we are to
it," she said during the Sunday eucharistic service for participants in
the September 1-7 Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Council meeting. The
worship was held at the chapel of the Ecumenical Centre, where the LWF
offices are located.

Garcia said the pursuit of peace involves love, forgiveness and a
counter-cultural approach. Preaching on the New Testament book of
Philemon, Garcia told worshippers that like Philemon and his runaway
slave Onesimus, "we are confronted with issues and situations that
challenge our values and cultural structures, we are called to review
our concepts and renew our positions [and] are invited to bring our
hearts to our decision-making processes and to judge others on the basis
of love." 

Just as Philemon forgave his slave Onesimus, Christians are called to
forgive the unforgivable, said Garcia, pastor of the English-speaking
congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Geneva (ELCG).
Forgiveness is not necessarily easy, she said, because often it involves
flexibility and change. "Our resistance to those who threaten our
social, moral and spiritual stability varies from place to place, from
time to time. Sometimes we can't cope when our views and understanding
are stretched." 

Christians need to learn with Philemon and Onesimus, Garcia said, and
from Jesus who was constantly challenging the presuppositions and
inherited values of his culture. "Jesus was critical of his culture when
it became blind and plundered people's dignity." She reminded the
congregation that Jesus was confrontational, pushing his followers past
their comfort zones to reinterpret the law through the eyes of love and
to take the side of the powerless. 

Anticipating a spirited discussion among Lutherans of issues concerning
family, marriage and sexuality, Garcia said this was a theme that had
pushed many churches hard. She urged the LWF communion to follow the
example of Philemon, "who could have chosen to preserve his social and
religious approach, his society and culture's establishment, but
instead, he opened himself to a new, totally different, value: love."
Love and forgiveness changes everything, Garcia said, but that was no
comfort for many people. "We sometimes are afraid of changing because we
fear we won't recognize ourselves anymore." Although this is a genuine
fear, she acknowledged, it was not part of "our identity as Christians,
nor as Lutherans."

The business of the LWF governing body continues with presentations of
recommendations from its seven Program Committees to the Council for
action as well discussion and information. The Program Committee on
International Affairs and Human Rights presented a statement calling for
the Council's action on the situation in Beslan, Darfur and
Israel-Palestine. (519 words)

*       *       *

There are around 100 church representatives including the 49-member
Council attending this year's meeting at Chavannes-de-Bogis near Geneva.
In addition there are 70 participants consisting of invited guests, LWF
staff persons, interpreters, stewards and journalists. The Council is
the LWF's governing body between Assemblies, normally held every six
years. The current Council was elected at the July 2003 Tenth Assembly
in Winnipeg, Canada, where it held its first meeting. The Council
comprises the President, the Treasurer and ordained as well as lay
persons drawn from the LWF member churches. The LWF currently has 136
member churches in 76 countries all over the world, representing 62.3
million of the estimated 66 million Lutherans worldwide.  

During the Council meeting, the LWF Office for Communication Services
can be reached by telephone at +41 22 960 8282, or at (mobile) +41
(0)78-396 2863.

*       *       *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. It was founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden. 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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