DENVER, Colo. (ELCA) -- Some 70 people attended the North American Pre-Assembly Consultation of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) here Jan. 23-26, and heard from many speakers that the upcoming LWF Tenth Assembly is a significant event for enhancing the world "communion" of Lutheran churches.
The assembly will be held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, July 21-31. Held every six years, the assembly is the LWF's chief decision-making body. The 2003 theme, "For the Healing of the World," will be highlighted in worship, celebrations and business matters, such as elections and deliberations on resolutions and policy matters. About 800 to 1,000 delegates, staff, advisors and visitors are expected to attend.
The Denver Pre-Assembly Consultation brought together North American delegates, staff and advisors representing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), Lituanian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Diaspora, Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad and Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad (based in Germany), all of whom have congregations in North America and are LWF members.
While here, participants discussed key issues affecting North America that will be brought to the assembly, nominated people for LWF President and LWF Council positions, learned about assembly procedure, and discussed their concerns and joys about the LWF. They also heard reports from youth and women's consultations involving North Americans.
The assembly in Winnipeg means ELCIC members will experience what it means to belong to a "very large and significant family in the world," said the Rev. Raymond L. Schultz, ELCIC national bishop, Winnipeg, in an interview. It will also mean that Canadian Lutherans will have an opportunity for "self-expression," he said.
"As a communion of churches, we have an opportunity to worship together, to study the Scriptures together and to talk with one another," Schultz said. "It's hard to predict what comes out of the richness of that kind of experience."
The job of preparing for the assembly is "enormous" for the ELCIC, a Lutheran church with 200,654 members in 2002. In addition to the logistics of organizing an international assembly, Schultz said participants will experience worship in Anglican and Roman Catholic churches, because there isn't a Lutheran church in Winnipeg large enough for the assembly. However, worship will help participants understand that "life in the ELCIC is very ecumenical," he added.
The Pre-Assembly Consultation was a preparation for Winnipeg, said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, Chicago.
"We immersed ourselves in the issues that we will be addressing in Winnipeg," he said in an interview. "We have looked at the texts that will shape our life together in Winnipeg. We have worshiped here as we will worship together in Winnipeg. And, we have begun that important process as North American Lutheran Christians of listening to global voices to whom we belong by virtue of our baptism in this communion of Lutheran churches."
Hanson and Schultz chaired much of the consultation program.
"It's a privilege and an honor and a lot of work to host the LWF assembly on our continent," and Kathleen J. Magnus, LWF Regional Office for North America, Chicago. "It's an honor for us to be able to share our space, our place, our ministries in hospitality with the rest of the Lutheran communion." The last time an LWF assembly took place in North America was in 1957, in Minneapolis, she noted. The most recent assembly was in 1997 in Hong Kong.
COMMUNION, MISSION, HOSPITALITY ARE KEY THEMES OF ASSEMBLY
Staff with the LWF, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, emphasized three themes of recent LWF experience in remarks to the consultation: the meaning of a Lutheran communion, a communion in mission, and hospitality extended to each member.
"The coming together of Lutherans on this continent has brought attention to what it means to be in unity as the church," said the Rev. Karen L. Bloomquist, director for the LWF Department for Theology and Studies. As an example, she cited the 1999 signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) in Augsburg, Germany, by representatives of the LWF and The Vatican. It signaled agreement on a key issue of disagreement between Martin Luther and the Catholic Church that led to the Protestant Reformation. North Americans were leaders in the effort that led to the JDDJ, she said.
The LWF is a "communion" of churches of the Lutheran tradition, which "means more than a free association of autonomous churches," Bloomquist said. It means the churches share a fellowship with a common theological understanding, she said.
The LWF Assembly is "a pivotal event" of what it means to be a communion, Bloomquist added.
The Rev. Peri Rasolondraibe, director for the LWF Department for Mission and Development, said mission "is clear and dominant" throughout the worldwide Lutheran communion. "It (LWF) is a communion in mission," he said. "Through mission the communion is strengthened."
Rasolondraibe cited the companion synod programs of both the ELCA and ELCIC as examples of how North American Lutherans have created a "network" of relationships throughout the world. The programs provide formal links between synods of the North American churches with churches in various parts of the world, leading to sharing of resources, exchange visits of members and leaders, and mutual support, especially in times of crisis.
"Sharing and giving hope is part of being a communion in mission," he said.
Rasolondraibe said the theme of the assembly -- For the Healing of the World -- "is both a challenge and a promise" for the churches of the communion.
The assembly provides an opportunity for Lutherans to extend hospitality to each other, said the Rev. Robert H. Granke, director for the LWF Department for World Service. Hospitality is about extending a welcome, treating others with respect and affirming each member, he said.
To facilitate communication among the international delegates, participants will be able to hear simultaneous translations of plenary sessions in English, French, German and Spanish, said the Rev. Arthur E. Leichnitz, director of the LWF Tenth Assembly, Geneva. To mark the significance of the assembly, the Canadian government plans to issue a commemorative stamp with the LWF theme on it, he said.
Some 61.7 million of the world's 65.4 million Lutherans are members of LWF churches. The LWF has 136 member churches in 76 countries. Invitations to participate in the assembly have been extended to significant Lutheran church bodies that are not LWF members, Leichnitz added. -- -- --
Information about the LWF Tenth Assembly can be found at http://www.lwf-assembly.org/ on the Web.
For a video news release on the LWF Consultation, visit http://www.elca.org/co/news/videos/video.index.html on the ELCA Web site.
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
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