WINDHOEK, Namibia
13/5/2017
The second African in the leading office of the Lutheran World Federation
Rev. Dr. Musa Panti Filibus, Archbishop of the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN), was elected President of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) at the twelfth meeting of the LWF Assembly in Windhoek, in the Republic of Namibia.
He is the thirteenth LWF President since the founding of the LWF in 1947, and the second to be elected from the African continent. Filibus was elected in the first round of voting. In total he received 274 votes out of 303.
Communion is a gift
Addressing the delegates of the LWF Assembly on the day of his installation in office on 12 May, Filibus emphasised that his main priorities are: fostering relationships within the communion, mission work, gender equality, diakonia and support for people in tragedy, as well as the place of youth in the church and interreligious relations for peace and justice.
“Communion is a gift,” said Filibus, adding that the building of communion must be cultivated. This must be done with an ecumenical sense of responsibility.
In his previous office, Filibus took part in the development of the LWF’s gender equality policy, and he is committed to implementing it, including by turning attention to questions of “how to support member churches in understanding and addressing these issues”. His participation was significant in leading the process of ordaining the first woman in the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria in 1996.
Filibus believes that the commitment of young people to take part in the life of the church should also be supported, and therefore he called for the Global Young Reformers Network (Global Young Reformers Network[1]) movement to be introduced in local churches.
Diakonia must be an effective and empowered ministry with the ability to help people in suffering, and also, when faced with injustice, to provide assistance in emergency situations — this is a key priority of the LWF. Filibus said: “My dream would be for the LWF to remain relevant and a leading international actor in diakonia on the question of those who find themselves in tragedy.”
Two years ago, in the dioceses of the north-eastern region of Nigeria, from which Filibus himself comes, the work of the church was suspended in many congregations in order to avoid attacks by the Boko Haram[2] militant group during services. “I see a great need to draw attention to the issue of religiously motivated violence in today’s world,” said Filibus.
Filibus also pointed out that the growing churches of the global south and the declining membership in the global north are areas where the involvement of the LWF is needed. “We have a duty both to listen to one another and to support each other in these struggles, and no church must be abandoned or feel alone,” said Filibus.
Filibus’s previous experience working in the Lutheran World Federation (LWF)
The newly elected president is no stranger to work in the LWF communion. From 2002 to 2010 he served as area secretary for Africa in the Department for Mission and Development (DMD), supporting member churches in Africa in various areas of ministry. He was appointed director of the DMD in 2010. In 2013, in turn, he accepted a call to serve as bishop of the Mayo Belwa diocese of the LCCN. In 2016 he was elected archbishop.
Filibus was ordained as a pastor in 1994. He studied theology in Nigeria and the USA, where he earned a doctorate in pastoral theology. He and his wife Rhoda Filibus have three grown-up children.
The newly elected LWF President, Archbishop Musa Panti Filibus, takes over the office from the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, Dr. Munib A. Younan, who was elected in July 2010 at the eleventh assembly in Stuttgart, Germany. The first LWF President from Africa was the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, Josiah Kibira, who carried out his ministry from 1977 to 1984.
Source: LWF news “Nigerian Archbishop Musa Panti Filibus elected LWF President” 13 May 2017
Photo: Living Lutheran. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
[1] https://youngreformers.lutheranworld.org/content/about-gyrn
[2]It is an Islamist terrorist group in north-eastern Nigeria that also operates in Chad, Niger and the northern part of Cameroon. The group’s leader is Abubakar Shekau.
The group is associated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State. It was founded in 2002. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Boko-Haram