wfn.org | LWI 2008-084 Global Lutheran Communion Congratulates New US President-Elect

["Dirk-Michael Grötzsch" <dmg@lutheranworld.org>]

>Die deutsche Version folgt in Kürze.
>MfG, D.-M. Groetzsch

>LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION  
>LWI News online:
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Global Lutheran Communion Congratulates New US President-Elect
LWF Leaders: Election Emblematic of Americans' Desire to
Overcome Division 

GENEVA, 5 November 2008 (LWI) - Bishop Mark S. Hanson, president
of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and presiding bishop of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Rev. Dr Ishmael
Noko, LWF general secretary, have congratulated Senator Barack
Obama on his election as the 44th President of the United States
of America.

Speaking of an "historic moment" for the country, Hanson and
Noko, in a letter to the President-elect, commend Obama's
passionate commitment to overcoming racial, political, social and
economic divisions in the USA. Obama's election is a sign that US
Americans share this desire to overcome discrimination, they
note, an "affirmation - if not yet the fulfillment - of the
struggles and aspirations of generations of the excluded and the
marginalized."

Obama's victory in the November 4 election - in which he won
nearly 70 more electoral college votes than the 270 needed to
secure the presidency - has significance not just for the USA but
for the entire global human family, the LWF leaders state. The
time is ripe for the construction of a society in which "people
are judged truly for who they are," they claim, and the fruit of
Obama's efforts in America may bring hope to many throughout the
world.

Hanson and Noko also emphasize commonalities in the challenges
facing the new President-elect and those encountered by the
Lutheran global communion in promoting human dignity and justice
around the world. They believe the ideals inspiring LWF's service
to the poor and oppressed are ideals and responsibilities that
the LWF shares with the senator. 

Hanson and Noko expressed the hope that the future US president
will be able to fulfill the heavy responsibilities he will be
assuming, and have assured the new leader that the LWF will
accompany him with prayers for wisdom, courage and fortitude to
meet the unprecedented constellation of challenges at hand. (322
words)

The full text of President Hanson and General Secretary Noko's
letter follows:

>Senator Barack Obama
>President-elect
>United States of America

>5 November 2008

>Dear Senator Obama,

We write to congratulate you on your election as the 44th
President of the United States of America. We do so on behalf of
the Lutheran World Federation's 140 member churches - in the
United States of America and 78 other countries around the world
- representing a global church family of over 68.3 million
people.

In your campaign you have spoken passionately and with evident
conviction of change, of hope, and of responsibility. You have
invoked the vision of an America that transcends the divisions of
race, political affiliation, and social and economic status. That
is indeed a salutary vision.

Your election is itself emblematic of the desire of Americans to
overcome discrimination based on color and origin. It is the
affirmation - if not yet the fulfillment - of the struggles and
aspirations of generations of the excluded and marginalized. It
is an historic moment for your country.

As President, confronting the unprecedented constellation of
challenges that you must face, you will require much more than a
human being's normal measure of wisdom, courage and fortitude. We
in the Lutheran World Federation accompany you with our prayers
that you might be strengthened for the tasks you have set
yourself in the promises you have made to the American people,
and in the hopes you have inspired.

In the unfolding of your agenda for overcoming divisions in the
United States of America, we believe that you will find a world
that is ready - and waiting - for the USA to join in the common
task of building a global human family in which people are judged
truly for who they are. The fruit of your efforts in the USA will
feed the hopes of many others around the world.

In your victory speech, you spoke of a new dawn for American
leadership in the world, and affirmed that the USA's strength for
leadership derives not from military might or economic influence,
but from the power of ideals.

As a global communion of churches, we see our mission as the
promotion of human dignity and inclusion, the restoration of
hope, and the struggle for justice for all around the world. We
confront the opposite of these qualities in far too many contexts
- as experienced by our member churches and through our programs
for humanitarian relief and development. We believe that the
ideals and responsibilities that inspire our service to the poor
and oppressed are ideals and responsibilities that we share with
you. 

We pray that what we do in the time we are given will fulfill
the responsibilities we have accepted and advance the realization
of our shared ideals, for the benefit of all people.

>Yours respectfully, 

>Bishop Mark S. Hanson				Rev. Dr Ishmael
>Noko
>LWF President					LWF General
>Secretary

>*        *          *

(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 79 countries all over the
world, with a total membership of over 68.3 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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