ELCA NEWS SERVICE

November 7, 2008  

Global Lutheran Communion Congratulates U.S. President-Elect
08-185-FI/LWI*

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, president of the
Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and presiding bishop of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Rev. Ishmael
Noko, LWF general secretary, sent a letter of congratulations
Nov. 5 to U.S. Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill., on his election to
become the 44th president of the United States.
     Speaking of an "historic moment" for the country, Hanson and
Noko commended Obama's passionate commitment to overcoming
racial, political, social and economic divisions in the United
States.  Obama's election is a sign that U.S. Americans share
this desire to overcome discrimination, they noted.  "It is the
affirmation -- if not yet the fulfillment -- of the struggles and
aspirations of generations of the excluded and the marginalized."
     Obama's victory in the Nov. 4 election has significance not
just for the United States but for the entire global human
family, the LWF leaders stated.  The time is ripe for the
construction of a society in which "people are judged truly for
who they are," they wrote, and the fruit of Obama's efforts in
the United States may bring hope to many throughout the world.
     Hanson and Noko also emphasized commonalities in the
challenges facing the new president-elect and those encountered
by the Lutheran global communion in promoting human dignity and
justice around the world.  They said they believe the ideals
inspiring LWF's service to the poor and oppressed are ideals and
responsibilities that the LWF shares with the senator.
     Hanson and Noko expressed the hope that the future U.S.
president will be able to fulfill the heavy responsibilities he
will be assuming, and they assured the new leader that the LWF
will accompany him with prayers for wisdom, courage and fortitude
to meet the unprecedented constellation of challenges at hand.
-- -- --
     The full text of the letter is at
http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2304.EN.html on the LWF
Web site.

*Lutheran World Information is the LWF information service and is
the source of this report.

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