Future of Christianity must be ecumenical, says Lutheran leader

-18/04/06

Christianit


Future of Christianity must be ecumenical, says Lutheran leader

-18/04/06

Christianityís global future must be one ecumenical cooperation and endeavour, says the head of the host church for the 11th Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) due to take place in Stuttgart, Germany, in 2010.

“We want [the] Stuttgart [gathering] to constitute a semicolon for our common ecumenical future in the world,” said Bishop Frank Otfried July, from the historic Evangelical Church in Wuerttemberg, during his first official visit to the LWF Geneva Secretariat earlier this month.

Emphasizing his church’s ecumenical and missionary commitment, he said it hoped to open the doors wide and invite many people representing different nationalities, backgrounds and religious convictions to Stuttgart in order to celebrate a festival of faith. He said it was important that reconciled diversity is made visible, and that a new door could be opened in the ecumenical history of the Lutheran World Federation.

July has been bishop of the Wuerttemberg church since July 2005. With 2.35 million members, it is the third-largest LWF member church in Germany, and was a founding member church of the Federation in 1947.

“We want our hospitality in Stuttgart to underline that we still have an ecumenical vision and that, as a regional church, we want to make our contribution to promoting this vision,” he said.

The German bishop hoped the assembly would be an opportunity for the host church to see again “that we are a part of a worldwide communion endeavouring to witness to the gospel in this world, and find answers to social questions on the basis of the Lutheran confession.”

In hosting the LWF event, the church also wanted to demonstrate the active engagement of German churches in issues concerning churches worldwide, he said, adding that this could strengthen the churches in Germany as well.

In his time at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, the Wuerttemberg church bishop also met with representatives of the Ecumenical Conference of European Churches (CEC), the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC).

In the coming months, he plans to talk with Walter Cardinal Kasper, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The Lutheran World Federation is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 140 member churches in 78 countries all over the world, with a total membership of 66.2 million.

The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and development work. It is based in Switzerland.


Future of Christianity must be ecumenical, says Lutheran leader

-18/04/06

Christianityís global future must be one ecumenical cooperation and endeavour, says the head of the host church for the 11th Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) due to take place in Stuttgart, Germany, in 2010.

“We want [the] Stuttgart [gathering] to constitute a semicolon for our common ecumenical future in the world,” said Bishop Frank Otfried July, from the historic Evangelical Church in Wuerttemberg, during his first official visit to the LWF Geneva Secretariat earlier this month.

Emphasizing his church’s ecumenical and missionary commitment, he said it hoped to open the doors wide and invite many people representing different nationalities, backgrounds and religious convictions to Stuttgart in order to celebrate a festival of faith. He said it was important that reconciled diversity is made visible, and that a new door could be opened in the ecumenical history of the Lutheran World Federation.

July has been bishop of the Wuerttemberg church since July 2005. With 2.35 million members, it is the third-largest LWF member church in Germany, and was a founding member church of the Federation in 1947.

“We want our hospitality in Stuttgart to underline that we still have an ecumenical vision and that, as a regional church, we want to make our contribution to promoting this vision,” he said.

The German bishop hoped the assembly would be an opportunity for the host church to see again “that we are a part of a worldwide communion endeavouring to witness to the gospel in this world, and find answers to social questions on the basis of the Lutheran confession.”

In hosting the LWF event, the church also wanted to demonstrate the active engagement of German churches in issues concerning churches worldwide, he said, adding that this could strengthen the churches in Germany as well.

In his time at the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, the Wuerttemberg church bishop also met with representatives of the Ecumenical Conference of European Churches (CEC), the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC).

In the coming months, he plans to talk with Walter Cardinal Kasper, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The Lutheran World Federation is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 140 member churches in 78 countries all over the world, with a total membership of 66.2 million.

The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and development work. It is based in Switzerland.