Title: ELCA Presiding Bishop Visits Hungary in LWF President Role ELCA NEWS SERVICE
October 27, 2006
ELCA Presiding Bishop Visits Hungary in LWF President Role 06-161-JB
BUDAPEST, Hungary (ELCA) -- In his first official visit to a European church since he became president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the Rev. Mark S. Hanson paid tribute to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary (ELCH), pointing out the contributions of the LWF Assembly held here in 1984.
Hanson, who is presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is visiting with church and government leaders here before traveling to Romania next week. His wife, Ione, is accompanying him. In his role as LWF president, Hanson periodically visits LWF churches.
The LWF is a global communion of 140 Lutheran churches in 78 countries representing 66 million Lutherans.
In opening remarks to church leaders, Hanson said he wanted to visit Lutherans in Hungary and Romania because he wanted them to know they belong to a global Lutheran organization.
Lutheranism in Hungary dates back to the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation in the early 1600s, inspired by the teachings of Martin Luther, a German monk and church reformer.
"It's a fact that most Hungarians became Lutherans in the first decade of the Reformation," said the Rev. Janos Ittzes, presiding bishop of the ELCH, in comments at Hanson's initial meeting with church leaders Oct. 26. Later, many became "Calvinists," he said. Today there are about 300,000 Lutherans in 300 congregations in Hungary, he said.
Throughout its history the Hungarian church has been deeply affected by the political situations. Losses in membership occurred following World War I and during the Communist occupation that followed World War II through 1989, when the Cold War ended, Ittzes said.
This week marked the 50th anniversary of the Soviet takeover here. The commemoration was marred by protests, fueled by unhappiness with the current prime minister. "God has kept his church even in the hardest time," Ittzes said.
During his visit, Hanson will meet with students at the church's only seminary, the Lutheran Theological University. The seminary, which has 200 students, will mark its 450th anniversary in 2007, said the Rev. Andras Koranyi, assistant lecturer.
Hanson noted that the 1984 assembly here was "a very significant assembly" in the life of the LWF. That assembly adopted "altar and pulpit fellowship" with all churches that upheld the Augsburg Confession, said apartheid in South Africa was heresy and suspended churches that upheld such policies, and lifted the roles of women and youth in the LWF.
"We want to continue to work for the full inclusion of women and youth in the LWF," Hanson said.
The 1984 assembly elected the Rev. Lajos Ordass, bishop of the ELCH, as LWF president. He had previously served as an LWF vice president. Ordass, who died in 1987, is widely respected in the ELCH. He served the church through a difficult period in Hungary's history.
In a question-and-answer session Hanson said he enjoys meeting young Lutherans when he travels because he says they are interested in the "structures of the church."
"They have a desire to experience the presence of God in their lives, and they want to be part of a church that is making a difference in the world," he said.
The LWF president told the ELCH staff there are four challenges today for the LWF and its member churches: reaching out to people of other faiths and determining how it will interact with Jews and Muslims especially; confronting HIV and AIDS; understanding the Word of God and the authority of Scripture; and meeting its financial needs to remain a viable and interdependent organization.
During the meeting the Hansons were shown the original handwritten Last Will and Testament of Luther, a document that was written in the 1540s. It was presented as a gift to the Lutheran Church here in the 19th century and has remained in the church's possession since.
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Information about the LWF and the ELCH is at http://lutheranworld.org on the Web.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog