wfn.org | Australian Conference Launches Plans for Global Lutheran

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

Australian Conference Launches Plans for Global Lutheran Educational Summit
An Obligation to Equip the Next Generation for the Challenges of 21st Century
Living 

ADELAIDE, Australia/GENEVA, 30 September 2004 (LWI) * Delegates attending an
Australian conference for teachers in Lutheran institutions have
enthusiastically supported a suggestion for a global summit for educators in
2006. In his September 27 keynote address to the Second Australian Conference
on Lutheran Education (ACLE II), the general secretary of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF), Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko had proposed the idea of a global
gathering, stressing the educators' important role in the formation of a
"good society." 

Noko noted that while "the church, mosque, synagogue and temple all have the
unquestionable obligation to educate for peace and co-existence," they tended
to emphasize their own specific identities. In light of such limitations, he
expressed hope in educational institutions saying they "have the potential to
provide a context in which we can search for the common identity that binds
us together."

The three-day conference attended by around 700 participants was organized by
the Lutheran Education Australia (LEA), which operates on behalf of the
Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) in the field of education. 

The LWF general secretary recognized the LCA's rich history in education and
called on Australian Lutheran educators to share their gifts and experiences
with their counterparts around the world. Participants in a global summit
could seek ways to refocus Lutheran educational resources in order to better
contribute toward a 'good society' and 21st century citizenship, he told the
ACLE II participants.

Noko's challenge to consider a global summit was immediately taken up by LEA
leaders at the conference, who worked with the general secretary to discuss
the broad goals of such an event. "What can we learn from each other? How can
we support each other? These are important questions that a global summit
could address," according to the LEA Director, Dr Adrienne Jericho. "But,
more importantly, such a summit should focus not just on how we can help each
other, but also on how we can together help the world to grow together as a
family in all its diversity." The LEA is part of a major network of Lutheran
schooling worldwide.

Jericho said Noko's presentation had made it "patently obvious" that Lutheran
educators have a great deal to contribute to the global village. "As
educators it is our privilege and responsibility to equip the next generation
for the challenges of 21st century living," he said. "We need to ensure that
our policies and practices contribute to the goal of preparing our young
people for a world that embraces all of humanity in the global family,
excluding no-one."

Jericho paid tribute to Noko's thorough exploration of the conference theme,
"Cross Currents: Charting a Course in a Sea of Diversity," saying the LWF
general secretary had changed the focus of the gathering. "He lifted out
sights from merely charting a course through diversity, to actually viewing
the destination, that is, a 'good society' that celebrates the diversity of
the global human family, without exclusion." (509 words)

(By Linda Macqueen, editor of the LCA magazine, The Lutheran.)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138 member
churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of nearly 65
million Lutherans. 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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