ELCA NEWS SERVICE June 20, 2008 ELCA Presiding Bishop Visits Lutherans in Kenya, Emphasizes Unity 08-094-JB NAIROBI, Kenya (ELCA) -- Two leaders of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) met with about 20 leaders and staff of the two Kenyan Lutheran churches here June 18, emphasizing the importance of unity and cooperation among all Lutherans in the country. The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), in his role as LWF president, and the Rev. Ishmael Noko, LWF general secretary, were hosted by the Rev. Zachariah W. Kahuthu, bishop, Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church (KELC), and the Rev. Walter E. Obare Omwanza, bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK). The KELC has about 44,000 members, and the ELCK has about 85,000 members. The ELCA, KELC and ELCK are LWF member churches. The ELCA and KELC are partner churches. The ELCA provides financial support to the KELC for various ministries, including literacy programs, school tuition support, Christian-Muslim relations, communication, Christian education, and youth and leadership development. ELCA Global Mission personnel work with the KELC. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the ELCK are partner churches. This is an important time to be Lutherans in the world, Hanson told the pastors. "We have gifts to bring to the Church catholic. To be evangelical, confessional, ecumenical and missional is what it means to be Lutheran," he said. The ELCA and LCMS are building networks of global relationships, and the two churches in Kenya are good examples, Hanson said. "It is through the global relationships we have that we are being transformed," he said. Noting that the ELCA and LCMS -- like the two Lutheran churches here -- have theological differences, Hanson said, "We have to have honest conversations about our differences but maintain our diversity." Hanson said he met last week with U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), the presumed Democratic Party nominee for U.S. President. In that meeting, Hanson emphasized to Obama that "Lutherans are on the ground" globally and domestically, providing a variety of vital ministries. Hanson said he hoped the U.S. government could be a strong partner with the churches. Obama has family roots in Kenya. Hanson also praised U.S. President George W. Bush's commitment to fund global HIV and AIDS response programs, and his focus on the related U.N. Millennium Development Goals. Christian churches in the Southern Hemisphere have been growing significantly in recent years, Noko told the Kenyan church leaders. With this shift to greater growth in the Southern versus Northern Hemisphere churches, Noko said, a key question for churches in the South is how they are planning to prepare theologians and ecumenists. Noko said the LWF needs a united Lutheran church in Kenya. "Unity is not a choice. It's a gift. It's not an option," he said. Noko also spoke briefly about the 2010 LWF Assembly in Stuttgart, Germany, with the theme, "Give us today our daily bread." In a discussion with the Kenyan church leaders, one local pastor raised a concern about international church relief and development agencies and their work to "develop capacity" -- helping and teaching people to help themselves -- and to do development work in Africa. He said he was concerned about how churches were included in this effort. Both Hanson and Noko said they were concerned, too. Calling it "a very critical issue" for the LWF and ELCA, Hanson said no church agency can develop capacity and do development work without the churches. Hanson said he is encouraged and believes that Lutheran World Relief (LWR), Baltimore, is committed to improving working relationships with churches. He said he would discuss the concern with LWR leaders. LWR is an international relief and development ministry of the ELCA and LCMS. Noko said he sympathized with the concern and said "you can't put capacity in the society and 'de-capacitize' the church." "It is our challenge," Kahuthu said to the LWF leaders. "It is a concern that must be dealt with in a careful way." While in Kenya, Hanson and Noko visited church offices of the KELC and ELCK, including the ELCK's new offices under construction in downtown Nairobi; Springs of Hope Lutheran Church, Kibera, burned during civil unrest that followed the disputed presidential election last December; and the Nairobi International Lutheran Congregation, served by the Rev. Robert Schmalzle and his wife, Denise, ELCA Global Mission personnel, and the Rev. Balozi Mruttu. The two LWF leaders arrive in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, June 19, for a series of church visits in that country. Next week they will be in Arusha, Tanzania, for a regular meeting of the LWF Council, the organization's governing board. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog