February 16, 2005

ABUJA, Nigeria/GENEVA – The president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Bishop Mark S. Hanson has appealed to LWF member churches worldwide to mutually share the different resources with which they are endowed for the continued "growing together" of the Lutheran communion. Hanson is leading an LWF delegation to West Africa, February 10-17.

"The maturing of the Lutheran World Federation and its true nature as a communion in which member churches share their gifts with one another, as reflected in the rapidly growing Lutheran churches in Africa, Asia, Central and South America are becoming teachers for the Northern Hemisphere churches," Hanson said February 12, at the end of the delegation's first stop, Nigeria.

Delivering his address titled "Growing Together, Growing Apart," at a two-day seminar organized by the Lutheran Communion in Western Africa (LUCWA), Hanson, also presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, delved extensively into religious and socio-economic factors which cause Christians and the world to either grow together or apart.

Growing together, he said, happens when Christians increasingly see each other as companions, working for the sake of the gospel. Other factors include the increasing possibilities of global communication, which are indices of enhanced inter-relatedness.

He cited the impact of economic globalization as one example of growing apart, saying it had resulted in experiences that could fragment the entire creation, human family and unity of the LWF.

The LWF President said indicators of whether Christians were growing apart or together could be seen through the lens of relationships within the LWF, relationships within the church catholic, interfaith and inter-religious relationships, as well as global relationships.

At its September 2004 meeting, the LWF Council appointed a task force to guide discussion on family, marriage and sexuality. On the issue of human sexuality, Hanson urged caution, saying that "we run the risk of making declarations and decisions without being in conversation with each other." He pointed out that it would be tragic if human sexuality were to become a cause for division rather than a source of respectful and admittedly difficult dialogue.

"Unless we learn the art of moral deliberation in ecumenical, global and cross-cultural contexts, issues of morality seem to have a greater potential to divide rather than unite us," Hanson said.

The LWF President expressed concern over the imbalances that continue to exist between the rich and poor, and weak and strong of the world. The church, he stressed, cannot afford to be complacent in the face of injustices but should instead rise to such occasion and give prophetic judgment.

African Churches Have Come a Long Way

Addressing the seminar, LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko recalled the 1955 All Africa Lutheran Consultation (AALC) in Marangu, Tanzania, when Lutheran churches in Africa held their first joint conference. The continent's churches will celebrate the AALC's 50th anniversary in the latter part of this year.

Noko pointed out the difficulties that had to be overcome before the African Lutheran churches could come to where they are today. Such problems included colonialism, poor communication, geographical boundaries, underdevelopment and lack of human resources in the churches.

The LWF General Secretary noted that the formation of the three sub-regional bodies of Lutheran churches in Africa was intended to address the challenges of growth, expansion, communication and the need for closer interaction between members of the Lutheran communion in Africa and the sub-regions which include LUCWA, the Lutheran Communion in Central and Eastern Africa (LUCCEA), and Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa (LUCSA).

On Christian-Muslim, and Christian-Jewish relationships, Noko explained that a lot still needed to be done toward improvement in Africa. He hoped the new frontiers in missionary work would discover ways of enhancing understanding among people of other faiths.

For the first time in Africa, Noko said, the LWF had initiated a meeting with members of seven leading faith groups in Africa to address the quest for peace there. The October 2002 first Inter-Faith Peace Summit in Africa brought together religious representatives from African Traditional Religion, the Baha'i faith, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism. They had agreed that recurring conflict in Africa hinged partly on the fact that religious leaders there had not lived up to their responsibilities.

The LWF General Secretary also challenged the African churches to be actively involved in the formation of good citizens in their countries through use of educational institutions where moral instructions could be imparted. They could also adopt ongoing dialogue with the governments and advance suggestions for the formation of good citizens, he proposed.

The LWF delegation also visited some local congregations of the host churches, the Lutheran Church of Nigeria (LCN), and Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN).

In the closing eucharistic service, the LWF President reminded Christians of the need to see themselves in the light of the temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11). They should strive to overcome temptations and be ready to meet one another's material and spiritual needs, he said.

The LUCWA seminar was also attended by LCCN Archbishop Nemuel A. Babba; LCN Bishop Effiong E. Ekanem; LUCWA President, Rev. Robert Goyek Daga, also head of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren of Cameroon; and several other clergy from Nigeria and within the LUCWA sub-region.

During the West African pastoral visit that also covers Liberia and Sierra Leone, Hanson and Noko are accompanied by the LWF Area Secretary for Africa, Rev. Dr Musa Filibus, and their spouses, Ione Hanson and Gladys Noko respectively.

Lutheran World Information
Written for LWI by Abuja (Nigeria)-based journalist Abuo F. Ojie.