wfn.org | LWF Council Approves Appointment of Ad Hoc Group to Review Involvement and Membership in ENI

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

LWF Council Approves Appointment of Ad Hoc Group to Review Involvement
and Membership in ENI
Need for Communication Guidelines in Crisis Situations

LWF Council Meeting, Geneva, 1 - 7 September 2004

PRESS RELEASE NO. 19-2004

GENEVA, 10 September 2004 (LWI) - At its meeting in Geneva, the Council
of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) agreed to the appointment of an
ad hoc group to review the LWF's membership and involvement in
Ecumenical News International (ENI). The Council's action was based on
recommendations from the Program Committee for Communication Services,
presented by the chairperson Rev. Kristin T. Tsmasdsttir, Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Iceland.

In carrying out its tasks, the ad hoc group would be expected to take
into account the changing context of information technology and the life
of the LWF member churches. It would also be required to address with
member churches and related agencies the issue of pledges for LWF
membership in ENI with the view to secure funding commitments for 2005,
2006 and 2007. Its report and recommendations will be presented to the
LWF Executive Committee in February 2005, on the basis of which the
committee would decide on the LWF's future involvement in ENI.

The ad hoc group will be expected to also address the issue of an
overall LWF funding strategy for ecumenical news endeavors at global and
regional levels. The group will be comprised of four Council members or
advisers, representing the Program Committees for Mission and
Development, Ecumenical Affairs, Finance and Administration, and
Communication Services, and one LWF staff person.

Tsmasdsttir in her report commended the LWF for its contribution and
active involvement in the World Summit on the Information Society(WSIS).
Acting on the committee's recommendation, the Council resolved to call
upon the LWF and its member churches to actively engage in the Summit
process and for the Secretariat to develop "talking points" on issues
related to the WSIS, so as to enable the Federation to work toward a
policy on the Information Society.

The Council further agreed that a comprehensive communication audit of
publications and Web sites of all LWF units be carried out in 2005. This
would include making a summary of what is currently available in print
and via the Web sites and recommend a consistent LWF message and look
for publications and the Web. Communicators from the LWF member churches
will be enlisted to a four-member team representing the North, South and
the four official languages of the LWF.

Another Council action from recommendations of the program Committee
for Communication Services, was that the LWF develop appropriate
guidelines for communication procedures in situations of crisis. Ms
Karin Achtelstetter, director of the LWF Office for Communication
Services, cited the bomb explosion in the LWF Department for World
Service regional office in western Nepal last April to illustrate the
importance of such guidelines. Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, LWF General
Secretary underlined the need for such procedures. He noted that when
LWF field staff were kidnapped a few years ago in Angola, clarity was
needed on what was publicized, when and how this would be done.

During discussion on the report of the communication program committee,
Rev. Marie J. Barnett, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sierra Leone,
emphasized the need to have LWF documents and other information in
printed format. Sending materials only by electronic mail or making them
available on the Web site, she stressed, excluded many people especially
the majority in the South, who did not have access to modern technology.

(565 words)


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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 a membership of
nearly 65 million people.

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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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