The LWF makes a planned accompaniment visit to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Unity in Christ is a precious gift
Chicago, USA 04.03.2014. On 28 February 2014, LWF General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge, together with the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Susan Johnson, and the Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, Dr. Ndanganeni Petrus Phaswana, met with the bishops of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) at a conference in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Following the LWF Council decision in June 2013, the visit to the ELCA is the first of three planned. The Council asked the LWF Office for the Communion to offer a process of accompaniment to three LWF member churches affected by a rupture in relationships over questions of family, marriage and sexuality.
“Our unity in Christ is a precious gift. It is precisely this gift of unity that enables members of the communion to engage in deep and even difficult conversations,” ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Amy Eaton said after the meeting. “In this process, the ELCA Conference of Bishops holds in its prayers the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, the Church of Sweden and the LWF Office for the Communion.”
“As a global communion of churches, we believe that it is healthy and normal to engage one another with respect in the discussion of difficult questions,” said Rev. Junge. “We in the LWF are grateful that, in this time of fragmentation, separation and breakdown of communication, we are able to uphold the value of communion. The accompaniment visits are an expression of these values in the LWF.”
Accompaniment visits to the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus and the Church of Sweden are planned for the coming months. The LWF Office for the Communion will report on the accompaniment process to the LWF Council this June.
Photo: The Lutheran World Federation
Translated from English by Mag. Theol. Ieva Puriņa, LELBāL pastor
Proofreader Mag. Theol. Milda Klampe