March 27, 2003

NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenyan Presiding Bishop Walther Obare Omwanza has urged Lutheran churches to conduct discussion on the theme of the forthcoming Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Tenth Assembly, in a biblically and doctrinally unambiguous, and precise manner.

"There is always a danger looming around our churches - that we are being presented fashionable agendas which are not genuinely biblical, not Lutheran," cautioned Omwanza, head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK), when he addressed representatives of the LWF member churches in Africa, attending the March 23-26 Africa Pre-Assembly Consultation (PAC) in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. "For the Healing of the World," the LWF Tenth Assembly theme is very much exposed to this danger, he noted.

"Our eternal healing is eschatological. It is the healing in the wounds of the Lamb of God, [the] forgiveness of our sins, our justification by faith for Christ's sake without any deeds and works of our own. This is the healing, which is our mandate as churches," the ELCK bishop said.

Bishop Omwanza pointed out that [in Africa,] the Lutheran and other traditional churches are challenged by fast-growing, dynamic and popular neo-Pentecostal movements whose main agenda is the healing of the world. He noted that this personal and collective healing is expected to be received in a supernatural way by faith in the miracles of the Holy Spirit, and cautioned that Christianity is then understood "less as the doctrine of salvation than as a method of achieving temporal health wealth." The appeal and power of this "new all-encompassing spiritual tidal wave supported by its links with traditional African religions" should not be underestimated, he cautioned.

Around 110 church representatives, including delegates to the Assembly, attended the Africa PAC, the region's preparatory meeting prior to the Assembly. It was held jointly with the All Africa Lutheran Leadership Conference, a forum for all church leaders in the 29 LWF member churches on the continent. The LWF Tenth Assembly will take place 21-31 July 2003 in Winnipeg, Canada, hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada.

The Nairobi consultation was the fourth of five regional conferences in the run-up to the LWF Tenth Assembly. The PAC's focus is to study the theme and content of the Assembly from the viewpoints of the different regions.

The African PAC was hosted by the ELCK and Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church (KELC). The ELCK has about 55,000 members and has been an LWF member since 1970, while the KELC, with a membership of 30,000, joined the LWF in 1992. LWF member churches in Africa have a total of 11.9 million members in 21 countries.

The first regional PAC was held January 23-26 in North America, in Denver, USA, followed by one for the European region, February 23-26 in Vienna, Austria, and by the Asian PAC, March 2-6 in Medan, Indonesia. The regional consultation for Latin America and the Caribbean will take place April 6-9 in San Salvador, El Salvador. The Women's Pre-Assembly Gathering was held 14-19 November 2002 in Montreux, Switzerland. A global youth conference will take place in July 2003 near Toronto, Canada.

At the Tenth Assembly in Winnipeg, around 1,000 participants are expected, including the 436 delegates from the 136 LWF member churches. The Assembly is the LWF's highest decision-making body, meeting normally every six years.

Lutheran World Information