ELCA NEWS SERVICE August 15, 2003 ELCA Assembly Experiences Global Celebration 03-CWA-35-JB MILWAUKEE (ELCA) -- Voting members attending the 2003 Churchwide Assembly of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) enjoyed an afternoon of international singing, dancing, praying and learning as part of a "Global Celebration" Aug. 14. The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 11-17 at the Midwest Airlines Center. There are about 2,100 people participating, including 1,031 ELCA voting members. The theme for the biennial assembly is "Making Christ Known: For the Healing of the World." The celebration -- a half-day version of a typical ELCA Global Mission Event -- focused on the theme of the Churchwide Assembly in relation to healing of creation, healing of self and healing of relationships. Throughout the 90-minute plenary, storytellers related vignettes on the healing theme, choirs and dancers performed, and the assembly engaged in prayer. The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, introduced each healing theme with a brief conversation with young children on the main stage. International guests, some of whom were participants at the recently concluded Lutheran World Federation assembly in Winnipeg, Manitoba, were introduced by the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, executive director, ELCA Division for Global Mission. Among the performers were Susuburibi and Spirits, drummers and stilt walkers; and Bethel Junior Choir & Company and New Parish Choir & Company, both youth choirs. "We begin our time together in worship .. recalling how water is used in Baptism," Hanson said as he sprinkled the children with water from a font. "So now let the celebration for the healing of the world begin." The healing of creation section featured brief stories about healing on farms and healing in southeast Asia and European countries where landmines have injured or killed people. "The whole of creation is God's gift to us," Hanson said to the children. "Sometimes the creation cries out when it is in pain. Sometimes, if we listen really well, the creation calls out for healing. Listening is part of healing." The healing of the body segment included a vignette on how a surgeon prays before operations. The healing of relationships focused on ways in which people may be divided, such as racism, sexism, poverty, classism and ageism. Suad Younan, a Palestinian Lutheran from Jerusalem, spoke of her relationship with an Israeli woman who has the same worries about her children as Younan, despite their different lives in Israel. "Isn't it wonderful that God didn't make us all the same?" Hanson asked the children, pointing out that each person is unique and each represents a different ethnic background. Because of that, he said, some are treated differently than others. "Some are treated differently because of the color of their skin," Hanson said. "God says to his children 'I want you to heal the tear, the break in relationships.'" Hanson concluded the plenary with words of hope for the children. "Nothing gives me as much hope as you who sit on this stage," he said. "I see in your eyes and your heart the future or the world." Following the plenary, voting members were invited to several global celebration workshops. The workshops focused on Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and the ELCA. Subjects included HIV/AIDS in Africa; healing the church after Communism; 10 years after signing peace accords in Latin America; Palestinian Christianity; roles for missionaries; the Lutheran World Federation; Lutheran World Relief; and the music of the global church. Participants concluded the afternoon with a global celebration meal and an evening "prayer around the cross" worship event. -- -- -- Information about the 2003 ELCA Churchwide Assembly can be found at www.elca.org/assembly/03 on the Web. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news