Relations with Non-LWF Churches Discussed at Lutheran Leader?s Meeting with Romanian Pastors Hanson Stresses 'Standing with the Poor and Work for Justice'
BRASOV, Romania/GENEVA, 8 November 2006 (LWI) * On the last section of his pastoral visit to Europe, 26 October * 2 November, Bishop Mark S. Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), visited Sibiu/Hermannstad t, the headquarters of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania, and met with the leaders and pastors of the two LWF member churches in Romania.
During discussions with local pastors from the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Romania, Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), shared his views about the Lutheran church, the LWF and the ELCA.
The pastors' questions to the LWF president focused on relationships with Lutherans, who were not in the LWF; issues related to human sexuality; and how other Christians and politicians viewed the LWF.
Hanson's response included explanation about the LWF task force on marriage, family and sexuality, which is studying how the various member churches are addressing these issues. He spoke also of the ELCA's regular meetings with the non-LWF member Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod; the ongoing ecumenical dialogues involving the LWF and other churches including the Roman Catholic Church as well as the Orthodox Church; and his engagement with top government officials in the countries he visits as LWF president.
"To be religious leaders in a free society we must work with political leaders for the common good, but we must challenge leaders when we believe they are in error," Hanson stressed. He told the pastors that a key commitment of the LWF was to "stand together with the poor and work for justice."
The LWF president also preached during a Reformation Day service at the historic "Black Church" in Brasov, a congregation of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania, so named because a fire in the city about 300 years ago left the exterior stone structure darkened. The church building, one of the largest in Europe, took about 100 years to build and was completed in the 13th century - predating the 16th century Reformation.
Bishop Dr Christoph Klein, leader of the 14,460-member Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Romania is LWF vice president for Central Eastern Europe. Bishop Dezsö Zoltán Adorjáni heads the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Romania, with a membership of 32,500. Both churches joined the LWF in 1964.
Since his 2003 election as LWF president, Hanson has paid pastoral visits to the LWF member churches in Latin America (September 2004), Africa (February 2005) and Asia (July 2006). (439 words)
(ELCA News Service)
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(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.)
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