LWF Welcomes WCC Invitation to Plan Common Assembly One Celebration of the Search for Unity and Common Witness of Christian Churches
PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil/GENEVA, 23 February 2006 (LWI) * The top leadership of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has welcomed a renewed invitation by the World Council of Churches (WCC) to consider planning a common Assembly together, within the next decade.
The issue of coordinated assemblies under the WCC has been on the agenda of LWF governing bodies for several years. LWF President, Bishop Mark S. Hanson and LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko affirm the federation's role as an ecumenical instrument in the search for Christian unity.
WCC General Secretary, Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia renewed the proposal that the next WCC assembly should provide a common platform for the wider ecumenical movement at the WCC 9th Assembly, taking place 14-23 February, in Porto Alegre, Brazil. "If we are ready to take such a significant, concrete step we could envisage together, instead of the many different global assemblies and general conferences organized by the various world communions and other bodies, just one celebration of the search for unity and common witness of Christian churches," he said. Kobia proposed that the WCC 9th Assembly give the mandate to accelerate the dialogue with the LWF and World Alliance of Reformed Churches to explore possibilities of holding the next assemblies as a combined event. "And we should also invite any other world Christian body to join us in this dialogue," he added.
LWF President Hanson said, "One of the tensions in the global ecumenical movement today concerns the role of the Christian world communions and confessional bodies, and [whether] they are finally contributing toward the greater unity of the church or taking energy away from the ecumenical movement."
"For me, as a Lutheran and as president of the LWF, I believe that being Lutheran is to be ecumenical. I can't read the Augsburg Confession without thinking that this was a proposal for the unity of the church, at least the Western church at that time," said Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Asked what would change were the LWF and WCC to hold coordinated assemblies, he stressed the need to continuously rethink "the function of these assemblies, in our life together, and in our witnessing in the world." He wondered whether the focus on ecumenism or Lutheran identity through the current assembly rhythm of six to seven years was the most effective way to tend to "our relationship together" or to "our witness in our work for deeper unity in the body of Christ."
Hanson said planning such assemblies would call for "careful talks" and openness to addressing "complicated questions" in order to ensure the contribution of the different Christian traditions represented in the Christian world communions (CWCs) and the WCC. "In no way do we want this to diminish the fullness of participation by all the members. * I think right away one of the concerns would be 'What is the response of the Orthodox community?'"
LWF General Secretary Noko said "holding assemblies within the space of WCC assemblies would neither lead to the dissolution of the LWF nor the CWC assemblies, but would strengthen the ecumenical commitment of the participating communions and build theological and ecclesial bridges nurtured by the Holy Spirit."
"The LWF Council, in September 2005, decided to seriously explore possible coordination of the meetings of governing bodies of the WCC and CWCs, as well as the achievement of broader ecumenical assemblies, based on the WCC Assemblies where CWCs have their specific space," Noko said. The Council also especially emphasized the need for a more specifically recognized role of CWCs in the ecumenical movement and in relating to the structures of the WCC. (628 words)
(By LWI correspondent Susanne Buchweitz, based in Porto Alegre, Brazil.)
(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 140 member churches in 78 countries all over the world, with a total membership of 66.2 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.]
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