ELCA NEWS SERVICE

February 17, 2005

LWF President Urges LWF Member Churches To Share Resources
05-025-AO*/JB

     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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