LWF seminar on religion and development
Johannesburg, South Africa. 17.12.2013. Lutheran leaders from the churches of Kenya, Namibia and Zimbabwe have affirmed that the marks of the church – unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity – call for it to engage and empower people ever more.
The consensus on religion and development was reached at the end of a three-day intensive seminar organized by the LWF Department for Theology and Public Witness.
The church leaders agreed that the marks are an important lens through which one should view one’s role in the world, adding that, to a certain extent, they require intervention in the organizational structures established by the current church leadership.
“We will have to rethink our church structures and constitution and provide an opportunity for pastors and students to gain skills that enable them to analyze and recognize the needs of society,” commented the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia, Rev. Dr. Veikko Munyika.
Munyika said that the seminar had helped him to see how it is possible to distinguish the responsibility of the bishop from the responsibility of the governing council. “The bishop must ensure unity in the church,” said Munyika.
Rev. Elitha Moyo, gender coordinator of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ), emphasized that if equality is a mark of the church, “then it is clear that we must regard everyone in the church as equal”. Moreover, she stressed, the church needs to empower women.
Deaconess Mary Sallie Nyabaro, national women’s coordinator of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya, who is also a member of parliament, said that the seminar had opened her eyes to the call for the church to act.
“Many women are afraid to obtain a pastoral education and do not understand that they have the right to become pastors. That is why we must ensure that we empower women socially, economically, and by providing education,” Nyabaro urged.
ELCZ General Secretary Munatsi M. Dube noted that the seminar had also prompted the church leaders to reassess their strategic planning processes related to development work, in order to observe good governance.
“Such a comprehensive approach will foster better relationships between clergy and laity. We must overcome the “them” and “us” syndrome, so that we may truly become one church, founded on the priesthood of all the baptized,” he said.
Rev. Dr. Kenneth Mtata, LWF secretary for Lutheran Theology and Practice studies, who led the seminar, emphasized the need to build an understanding of the theological and sociological interplay, in order to strengthen the church’s capacity for relevance and credibility in the political, economic and social spheres.
Translated from English by Ieva Puriņa, Mag.Theol., LELBāL deaconess
Proofreader Mag. Theol. Milda Klampe