Lutherans in North and South America Share a History

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Angel Furlan, president of the Iglesia Evangelica Luterana Unida (United Evangelical Lutheran Church) in Argentina and Uruguay, said his church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America will continue their long history of work together.  Furlan, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, spoke to ELCA participants in a Latin American Companion Synod Consultation here June 12-14.
     The event, hosted by the ELCA's Division for Global Mission, brought together leaders from the 11 ELCA synods involved in work with Lutheran churches in Latin America.  Each of the ELCA's 65 synods is matched with a "companion" church.
     The Montana Synod relates to the church in Bolivia, the Northwest Synod of Wisconsin to Brazil, the Indiana-Kentucky Synod to Chile, the Southwestern Minnesota Synod to Colombia, the Northeastern Pennsylvania and Nebraska Synods to Argentina.
     "It was the result of missionary work from the United States that the Lutheran church in Argentina and Uruguay developed to become a national church body  recognized by the government in 1940," said Furlan.
     At the beginning of the century, Lutheran missionaries from Nebraska and Pennsylvania helped communities in Argentina form their own Lutheran Church, said Furlan.  "Local pastors in Argentina worked side-by-side with missionaries for church development."
     "This relationship was unique because most Lutheran churches in South America were European transplants," noted Furlan.  "Germans, who came to settle in Argentina in the last century, preached only to German communities there.  It has only been in the past two decades that they have opened themselves to use Spanish in their worship life.  The same story is true for the Danish community that also arrived here in the last century."
     "The language of our church from the beginning is the language of the people -- Spanish.  We owe that to our brothers and sisters in the United States" said Furlan.  "This makes our church different from any other in the country whose primary language was not Spanish."
     "Many refugees from eastern Europe came to Argentina, too.  In that way, the 'ethnic congregation' emerged within the Lutheran church in Argentina.  It is very important to highlight this point because we see that you also have ethnic congregations within the ELCA.  You will have more in the future, particularly Latino ethnic communities," Furlan told participants.
     "The challenge among congregations of the church today is to reach the poor and people that are excluded from the socio-economic system in our country," said Furlan.  "This is how new missions have been developed in the church."
     "Restucencia, a town in northern Argentina, is an area that has constant flooding.  With the Lutheran World Federation, the church built 100 homes for families living in that area," said Furlan.  "The name of this community project is the Rainbow Project."
     "Another area of ministry that continues to be very important to the Lutheran church in Argentina involves ministry with HIV-positive individuals" he said.  "We have a home for people with AIDS who have been abandoned by their families or relatives.  The church provides a safe and caring place for HIV-positive people."
     Furlan pointed out that the relationship between the ELCA's Nebraska and Pennsylvania synods, "as it was established and developed more than 50 years ago, was characterized by paternalism.  This was the way the relationship was designed for some time."
     "The key component of the companion synod relationship between both churches today is no longer paternalistic," said Furlan.  "Today it is about accompaniment.  The focus is now on the communion of the two churches, the opportunity for the two to exchange gifts and share the hopes and dreams of both churches together."
     "The Lutheran church in Argentina and Uruguay continues to grow with a very strong mission emphasis," said Furlan.  "The way in which we see our relationship between the two churches, as an accompaniment, sounds very good to our ears.  It shows that there has been some maturity over the last several years."
     "Participants met to share stories, encourage and support relationships between the ELCA and the Lutheran church in Argentina, as well as to provide work and ministry updates," said the Rev. David Dennison, ELCA associate director for global relationships.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html