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Bolivian Lutheran Church Builds on Teamwork and Improved Communication Newly Elected President Visits LWF Geneva Secretariat
GENEVA, 26 July 2007 (LWI) * After some six months in office, the new president of the Bolivian Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELB), Rev. Luis CristÃbal Alejo FernÃndez, is pleased to note the considerable progress already achieved in his church. âWe have made pertinent changes in our way of working,â he said in an interview with Lutheran World Information (LWI) during his 8 June visit to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF).
Accompanied on the visit by IELB treasurer, HilariÃn Rocha, Alejo mentioned a number of developments that had contributed toward change within the IELB. These included close cooperation at the congregational level, teamwork, improved communication and transparency, and work and thought on the churchâs future form and structure. âWe have been asking ourselves what kind of church we want to be 20 years from now,†he said. Before his election as president, Alejo worked for the church on a voluntary basis, as do most IELB pastors.
For the first time in the history of the IELB, Alejo pointed out, the churchâs seven-member governing board now includes three women. He added that progress also had been made toward greater involvement of young adults. One such example was that of Rocha who had been elected treasurer both as a youth representative and as a qualified financial auditor.
According to the president the IELB, as an indigenous church, would like to contribute in a special way both ecumenically and internationally to the worldwide Lutheran church community. In his role as the newly appointed Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) coordinator for work with the indigenous people of the Andes region, Alejo anticipates new responsibilities for himself and for the IELB. For the LWF Eleventh Assembly, planned for 2010 in Stuttgart, Germany, Alejo pointed to the principle of cosmic interaction and respect for nature of traditional indigenous wisdom. He said it was imperative that indigenous experience be taken into account in relation to the Assembly theme âGive Us Today Our Daily Bread.â
The IELB has around 22,000 members, the majority of whom are part of the indigenous population. The church has been a member of the LWF since 1975. (369 words)
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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 nearly 66.7 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and interfaith 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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