ELCA NEWS SERVICE

September 1, 2005

ELCA Presiding Bishop and LWF President Addresses LWF Council
05-161-LWI*

     BETHLEHEM, West Bank (ELCA) -- Participants in the Aug. 31-
Sept. 6 Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Council meeting "have
come to Bethlehem to listen, to witness, to challenge and to pray
for a lasting and just peace," said the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, LWF
president and presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America (ELCA), Chicago.  He made the comment as part of his
Aug. 31 presidential address to the LWF governing body.
     The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition.  Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF
currently has 138 member churches in 77 countries all over the
world, with a membership of nearly 66 million.
     The council meeting is being hosted by the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) at the
ELCJHL's International Center of Bethlehem.  Hanson reminded the
LWF Council participants from all over the world that they were
in the region to witness the faithful and powerful testimony of
the ELCJHL Christians and to share the people's cry.
     "May the cries for peace and justice provoke confession,
repentance and become a prelude to reconciliation," Hanson said
in his address before some 170 participants.  "The Church: Called
to a Ministry of Reconciliation" is the theme of the meeting.
     The LWF president noted that the ministry of reconciliation
begins and is renewed as the assembly gathers in Christ around
the means of grace on behalf of the whole creation.
     "Therefore, we are so bold as to claim there is joy and
celebration in the ministry of reconciliation.  May we as the LWF
Council experience that joy as we renew our commitment to a
ministry of reconciliation for Jerusalem and to the ends of the
earth," Hanson said.

New Way of Describing Suffering in the Middle East
     Hanson referred to Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, an ELCA
theologian who wrote "Public Church for the Life of the World,"
and her critical questions about discerning God's will.  He
called the LWF Council members to a new "Christian discernment"
that would make it possible to perceive and describe the world in
a new way.  This is particularly necessary when dominant forces
distort historical realities by describing them falsely, he said.
     Hanson expressed hope that participation in this year's
meeting should enable those taking part to start re-describing
the reality of suffering in the Middle East. This would make it
possible to understand more clearly the complexity of problems
involved and "the imperative for an independent, viable
Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace with a secure
Israeli state," he said.
     Hanson stressed the importance of continued efforts by the
LWF in creating "channels for hearing" those who do not wield
power, especially outcasts, suspects, the abused, the powerless
and the oppressed, whether they are within the Lutheran communion
or not.

Commitment to Eucharistic Hospitality
     Referring to worldwide ecumenism, Hanson raised the question
of how the LWF should respond to Pope Benedict XVI's commitment
to Christian unity, and whether it is possible to build upon the
Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification together so
that it remains a "living letter."
     Hanson questioned how LWF member churches could continue to
manifest their commitment to Eucharistic hospitality and sharing
with the Roman Catholic Church without minimizing the theological
issues that remain.  He wondered whether the year 2017 and the
500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation could provide an
opportunity for shared reflection with Roman Catholics on joint
contributions and commitment to the unity of Christ's church and
to global work for justice and peace.

Global Ecumenical Council on Christian Interpretation of
Scripture
     The LWF president referred to a suggestion made by the
president of Wartburg Theological Seminary, an ELCA seminary in
Dubuque, Iowa.  The Rev. Duane Larson recommended that the
leadership of the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican and
Lutheran communions, and the Ecumenical Patriarch of
Constantinople convene a global, ecumenical council on the
Christian interpretation of Scripture.
     Hanson pointed to an article by Larson submitted to "dialog"
magazine, in which he had expressed the opinion that Christianity
was in the midst of a global identity crisis -- an opinion that
stemmed from not having ecumenically addressed questions about
the interpretation and authority of Scripture.  Hanson proposed
that Larson's suggestion for a global ecumenical council be
discussed in the context of the current LWF Council meeting.

Proclaiming the Gospel in the Interest of Reconciliation
     Hanson cited some of the challenges he encounters during his
travels as LWF president.  He spoke of hearing about the
frustration and conflict created when evangelists preach a
prosperity gospel "that promises financial gain and success to
those who follow these leaders."
     In the United States, where a consumer-driven culture values
a privatized spirituality and demands a "feel good" religion,
there is great pressure on pastors and congregations to get their
"market share" of members by "offering some gospel other than the
radical good news of God's reconciliation and forgiveness by
God's grace through faith for Jesus' sake," he said.
     Concerning his travels to Central America and West Africa,
Hanson mentioned how he witnessed LWF members engaging in truth
telling for the sake of reconciliation.  Central American
Lutherans had spoken the truth regarding those who benefited or
did not gain from the peace accords in El Salvador and from free-
trade agreements.  Liberian and Sierra Leone Lutherans described
the painful truth of the horrific cost of extended civil war.
     Hanson stressed that the truth about violence and
exploitation had become the context for broad interfaith
initiatives seeking human rights, justice and lasting peace.
     A ministry of reconciliation, Hanson stressed, begins in
Word and Sacrament and leads to a critical analysis of power
within the communion.
     For Hanson, questions remained about whether the communion
of Lutheran churches felt it was being called to continued
conversation regarding commitment to the ordination of women and
to women in positions of leadership.
     A ministry of reconciliation in the LWF, he said, is
reflected in relationships of "accompaniment" and not by
domination, he said.
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     *Lutheran World Information is the information service of
the Lutheran World Federation, Geneva.

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