wfn.org | Norwegian Theologian Kjell Nordstokke Appointed Director of LWF Department for Mission and D

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

Norwegian Theologian Appointed Director of LWF Mission and Development

LWF Council Meeting, Geneva, 1 * 7 September 2004

PRESS RELEASE NO. 17-2004

GENEVA, 8 September 2004 (LWI) * The Executive Committee of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) appointed Norwegian theologian Rev. Dr Kjell Birger Nordstokke, as the new director of the LWF Department for Mission and Development. Nordstokke, 58, is expected to take up his new position in April 2005, succeeding Rev. Dr P*ri Rasolondraibe  who will be retiring in March next year. 

Nordstokke brings to the LWF a wealth of experience in diaconical work. Since 1997 he has been director of one of the leading diaconal institutions in Norway, the Diakonhjemmet College and Hospital in Oslo, with responsibility for a staff of more than 1,400 persons. One of his main tasks as director is to elaborate the strategy of the institution and make it relevant as a church-based actor in civil society. The institution has close relations with several international partners including LWF member churches in Brazil, Southern Africa and Latvia. 

Nordstokke served in Brazil as a missionary of the Norwegian Missionary Society (NMS) for ten years. He has published several articles in the area of missiology, working with issues like contextualization, third world theology, theology of liberation, transformation, mission and diakonia, and has taught these subjects at academic level both in Norway and abroad. His 1991 doctoral dissertation at Oslo University was on the subject, "Council and Context in Leonardo Boff's Ecclesiology: The Rebirth of the Church among the Poor." 

Ordained in the Church of Norway in 1973, Nordstokke pursued his undergraduate and post-graduate studies in theology in Oslo. From 1988 until 1990, Nordstokke was secretary for the Norwegian Catholic-Lutheran dialogue , working mainly with the understanding of justification. He was a delegate to the LWF Eighth Assembly in Curitiba Brazil in 1990 and participated in the Tenth Assembly in July 2003. From 1997 until 2003, he served as an LWF Council adviser on the Program Committee for Mission and Development. Since 2003, he has been a member of the governmental commission assessing the future of the church-state relations in Norway. 

Nordstokke and his wife Kazumi have two grown-up daughters.

LWF/DMD endeavors to encourage, support and work with the LWF member churches alongside related agencies and other groups as they strive to create, develop and maintain ministries faithful to the fundamental task of the church: participation in God's mission to all creation. Work areas cover proclamation, advocacy and service (diaconia) activities aimed at creating for communities a dignified life of peace in justice.


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Around 100 church representatives including the 49-member Council attended this year's meeting at Chavannes-de-Bogis near Geneva. In addition there were 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 138 member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with  nearly 65 million members.

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(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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