wfn.org | FEATURE: How Can the Church Be Renewed Amidst Growing

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

FEATURE: How Can the Church Be Renewed Amidst Growing Secularization?
Lutheran Women Leaders: "Telling the Old Bible Stories Is a Task for
Every Christian"

GENEVA, 30 June 2005 (LWI) * The growing secularization in central and
western Europe, as well as in the Nordic countries, affects the churches
tremendously. Less and less people see themselves as believers or attend
church services. What needs to be done against this development and how
can the Church be renewed? These were two of the main questions that
Lutheran women bishops and presidents dealt with at a recent
consultation organized by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) desk for
Women in Church and Society (WICAS).

Hamburg Bishop Maria Jepsen, North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church,
described the current situation in Germany: Many churches remained empty
on Sundays. Due to the economic downturn several years ago the
church's income had dropped considerably. Now the church was
urgently looking for new ways to sustain itself. "In the meantime,
churches are being sold. In the last six months I had to decommission
five churches in Hamburg, and the end is not in sight," Jepsen said. 

While clearly stating that the grim financial situation was a heavy
burden for the German churches, she admitted that the church crisis was
not just finance-related. It was also about spirituality and the value
of biblical reflection itself. She emphasized the importance of reading
and telling Bible stories, pointing out "this is not only a task for
theologians but for every Christian." 

"We need to get the 'grand narratives' back into our lives. They
are the emotional and social engines of society, of the church and in
our personal lives." Despite their old age their value and meaning
still endured, lasting for longer than any money in the world could, she
stressed. 

The situation in Sweden echoes Germany's*an increasingly secularized
society with fewer and fewer church goers. The Church of Sweden has
preserved much of the teaching and liturgy of the old, undivided church
while undergoing some major changes. In 2000 it gained new status within
the country. Having been a state church under the influence of state
bodies for past centuries, it is now independent and has more freedom
for own decisions, for example, on the choice of books of worship and
the appointment of new vicars, deans and bishops, Bishop Caroline Krook,
Stockholm Diocese explained. 

She spoke of the need to link closely the necessary renewal of the
church to burning issues like the church's treatment of homosexuals.
"We need to find a position, which combines an adherence to the
Bible with a current interpretation and use of the biblical texts." 

"Church renewal is not something we achieve by [looking for it.] It
is when the Church returns to its roots, to its task to proclaim in word
and deed the good news to the marginalized, and to those who suffer in
concrete situations that renewal comes to us as a free gift, sola
gratia," Krook told the women church leaders attending the June 16-19
LWF Conference of Women Bishops and Presidents and Leaders with Ministry
of Oversight. (516 words)

(By Julia Heyde, youth intern, LWF Office for Communication Services.)

(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 total
membership of nearly 66 million. 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.]

*     *     *

LWI online: http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/Welcome.EN.html 

LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
PO Box 2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: (41.22) 791.63.54
Fax: (41.22) 791.66.30 
Editor: pmu@lutheranworld.org