wfn.org | Role of Theology and Ecumenism Affirmed as Basis for LWF's Life

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

Role of Theology and Ecumenism Affirmed as Basis for LWF's Life and Work
LWF Council Names Members of Anglican-Lutheran, and Lutheran-Reformed
Commissions 

LWF Council Meeting, Geneva, 1 - 7 September 2004

PRESS RELEASE NO. 22-2004

GENEVA, 13 September 2004 (LWI) - The Council of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) has affirmed the role of theology and ecumenism as
foundational to the life and work of the LWF. At its September 1-7 meeting
near here, the Council agreed that additional funding be found for LWF
theological work so as to include the area of worship and proclamation. 

Receiving the report of the Program Committee for Ecumenical Affairs, the
Council affirmed the LWF's commitment to find ways to fund the ecumenical
dialogues and related Lutheran research.

The Council received the Strategic Planning Report on Theology and Ecumenism,
which is the result of the combined efforts of the LWF Department for
Theology and Studies (DTS), the Office for Ecumenical Affairs (OEA), and the
Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg, France. In its report, the
committee noted that theological and ecumenical work was not one among other
priorities, "but is foundational for who we are and what we do as a Lutheran
communion." This work, therefore, must be secured financially even as the
process of prioritizing other LWF tasks continues, committee chairperson
Prof. Joachim Track stressed.

Further, the Council received the Report of the Chairperson of the Board of
the Lutheran Foundation for Interconfessional Research and expressed
appreciation for the Strasbourg institute's steady work in ecumenical
theology.

Appointment of Members of the Anglican-Lutheran International Commission

With reference to a Council action in Wittenberg, Germany in 2002, calling
for the approval of a program plan for an Anglican-Lutheran International
Commission, as well as the mandate approved by the LWF Executive Committee in
February 2004, the LWF Council appointed the Lutheran members to the
Anglican-Lutheran International Commission. They include the Lutheran
co-chairperson, Church President Rev. Dr Thomas Nyiwe (Cameroon); Prof.
Kirsten Busch Nielsen (Denmark); Church President Rev. Angel F. Furlan
(Argentina); Prof. Cameron Harder (Canada); Rev. Dr Hartmut Hvvelmann
(Germany); Rev. Helene Tdrneberg Steed (Sweden); and Church President Rev.
Josephine Tso (Hong Kong, China). Prof. Kenneth Appold (Strasbourg institute)
and Rev. Thomas Bruch (United Kingdom) will serve as consultants to the
commission.

In its report, the program committee noted that the report of the
Anglican-Lutheran International Working Group with its recommendations was
sent to the LWF member churches and national committees for study and
response, and feedback had been received. The Council received these
responses with appreciation and asked the LWF General Secretary to forward
them to the new Anglican-Lutheran International Commission for consideration
and follow-up. 

Council Names Members of the Lutheran-Reformed Joint Commission

Another Council action to recommendations from the ecumenical affairs program
committee was the appointment of Lutheran members to the Lutheran-Reformed
Joint Commission, of which a program plan and mandate had been approved by
the Council in 2002, and the Executive Committee last February. They include
the co-chairperson General Bishop Dr Jzlius Filo (Slovak Republic); Prof.
Anneli Aejmelaeus (Finland); Bishop Thomas J. Barnett (Sierra Leone); Prof.
Song Mee Chung (Malaysia); Prof. Luis Henrique Dreher (Brazil); Prof. Kathryn
Johnson (USA) and Superintendent Dieter Lorenz (Germany). Prof. Andri Birmeli
(Strasbourg institute) will serve as consultant to the commission. 

The Council also received the responses to the report of the
Lutheran-Reformed Joint Working Group and asked the LWF General Secretary to
forward these reactions to the new Lutheran-Reformed Joint Commission for
consideration and follow-up.

Lutheran-Mennonite International Study Commission

The Program Committee for Ecumenical Affairs reported on the 2002 Council
approval of a program plan to establish a joint commission of representatives
of the LWF and Mennonite World Conference (MWC) to consider the condemnations
of Anabaptists in the Augsburg Confession and the question whether these
apply to Mennonites today. The Council this year approved the mandate for the
Lutheran-Mennonite International Study Commission as proposed. 

Based on the results of previous national dialogues in Germany, France and
the United States of America, the commission will consider whether the
condemnations of Anabaptists articulated by the Augsburg Confession (1530)
apply to the MWC member churches and related churches. The commission is
expected to submit a report of its conclusions to the MWC and LWF governing
bodies for further action, and with a view toward a possible official
statement. Concerning the appointment of Lutheran members to serve on the
commission, the Council agreed to authorize the LWF Executive Committee to
approve the composition of the Lutheran-Mennonite International Study
Commission by mail vote.

The ecumenical affairs program committee informed the Council of responses
received so far from the LWF member churches to the document "The Episcopal
Ministry within the Apostolicity of the Church - A Lutheran Statement 2002."
The Council, acting on recommendations from the committee received the
responses to the statement, and asked the Strasbourg institute in cooperation
with Prof. Track, Rev. Sven Oppegaard, (LWF Assistant General Secretary for
Ecumenical Affairs) and Rev. Dr Randall R. Lee, (director, Department for
Ecumenical Affairs, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) as consultant, to
consider the responses from the member churches with a view to possible text
amendments, and present the outcome to the 2005 Council meeting. 

Methodist Affirmation of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of
Justification

The program committee informed the LWF Council of the World Methodist
Council's (WMC) strong expression of support for the signing of the Joint
Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) in October 1999.
Subsequently the WMC has developed a statement affirming the JDDJ in
theological substance, which could be officially received by the JDDJ's
signing partners -- the LWF and Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian
Unity (PCPCU). In its action on this item, the Council noted with
appreciation that the WMC theological statement on the JDDJ had been shared
with the LWF and PCPCU, and requested the Strasbourg institute staff, in
cooperation with Prof. Track and Rev. Oppegaard to formulate some comments on
the issue of simul justus et peccator  (justified yet sinner) from a Lutheran
understanding, and present these observations to the 2005 Council meeting.

Relations between the LWF and International Lutheran Council 

Based on information on the development of relations between the LWF and
International Lutheran Council, and on the 2002 and 2003 contact meetings
between both Lutheran world bodies, the LWF Council received the communiqui
from both meetings. It also expressed the LWF's commitment to continued
development of contact and cooperation between the two Lutheran world
organizations and their member churches. 
(1,064 words)

*	*	*

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.

*	*	*

(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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