LWF President Urges LWF Member Churches To Share Resources

ABUJA, Nigeria (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and presiding bishop of the Chicago-based Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), appealed to LWF member churches worldwide to share resources for the continued "growing together" of the Lutheran communion. Hanson is leading an LWF delegation to West Africa, Feb. 10-17.
"The maturing of the Lutheran World Federation and its true nature as a communion in which member churches share their gifts with one another, as reflected in the rapidly growing Lutheran churches in Africa, Asia and Central and South America, are becoming teachers for the Northern Hemisphere churches," Hanson said Feb.12, at the end of the delegation's first stop, Nigeria.
Delivering his address, "Growing Together, Growing Apart" at a Feb. 11-12 seminar here organized by the Lutheran Communion in Western Africa (LUCWA), Hanson delved extensively into religious and socioeconomic factors which cause Christians and the world to grow either together or apart.
Growing together, he said, happens when Christians see each other as companions, working for the sake of the gospel. Other factors include the increasing possibilities of global communication, which are indices of enhanced interrelatedness.
Hanson cited the impact of economic globalization as one example of growing apart, saying it had resulted in experiences that could fragment the entire creation, human family and unity of the LWF.
The LWF president said indicators of whether Christians were growing apart or together could be seen through the "lens" of relationships within the LWF, relationships within the church catholic, interfaith and interreligious relationships, and global relationships.
At its September 2004 meeting, the LWF Council appointed a task force to guide discussion on family, marriage and sexuality. On the issue of human sexuality, Hanson urged caution, saying that "we run the risk of making declarations and decisions without being in conversation with each other." He pointed out that it would be tragic if human sexuality were to become a cause for division rather than a source of respectful and admittedly difficult dialogue.
"Unless we learn the art of moral deliberation in ecumenical, global and cross-cultural contexts, issues of morality seem to have a greater potential to divide rather than unite us," Hanson said.
The LWF president expressed concern over the imbalances that continue to exist between the rich and poor, the weak and strong of the world. The church, he stressed, cannot afford to be complacent in the face of injustices, but should instead rise to such occasions and give "prophetic judgment."

African Churches Have Come a Long Way
Addressing the seminar, the Rev. Ishmael Noko, LWF general secretary, recalled the 1955 All Africa Lutheran Consultation (AALC) in Marangu, Tanzania, when Lutheran churches in Africa held their first joint conference. The continent's churches will celebrate the AALC's 50th anniversary later this year.
Noko pointed out the difficulties that had to be overcome before the African Lutheran churches could come to where they are today. Such problems included colonialism, poor communication, geographical boundaries, underdevelopment and lack of human resources in the churches.
The LWF general secretary noted that the formation of three sub-regional bodies of Lutheran churches in Africa was intended to address the challenges of growth, expansion, communication and the need for closer interaction between members of the Lutheran communion in Africa and the sub-regions which are LUCWA, the Lutheran Communion in Central and Eastern Africa and Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa.
On Christian-Muslim and Christian-Jewish relationships, Noko explained that a lot still needed to be done toward improvement in Africa. He hoped the new frontiers in missionary work would discover ways to enhance understanding among people of different faiths.
The LWF delegation also visited some local congregations of the host churches --the Lutheran Church of Nigeria (LCN) and Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN).
In the closing communion service Feb.12, Hanson reminded Christians of the need to see themselves in the light of the temptation of Jesus, recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew. They should strive to overcome temptations and be ready to meet one another's material and spiritual needs, he said.
The LUCWA seminar was also attended by LCCN Archbishop Nemuel A. Babba; LCN Bishop Effiong E. Ekanem; LUCWA President Robert Goyek Daga, also head of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren of Cameroon; and several other clergy from Nigeria and within the LUCWA sub-region.
During the West African pastoral visit that also covers Liberia and Sierra Leone, Hanson and Noko are accompanied by their spouses, Ione Hanson and Gladys Noko respectively, and by the LWF Area Secretary for Africa, the Rev. Musa Filibus.
The LWF is a global communion of Lutheran churches with 138 member churches in 77 countries, representing nearly 66 million Lutherans worldwide.
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*Abuo F. Ojie is a journalist based in Abuja, Nigeria, who filed this story for Lutheran World Information, Geneva, Switzerland


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