June 30, 2005
By Julia Heyde

GENEVA – The growing secularization in central and western Europe, as well as in the Nordic countries, affects the churches tremendously. Less and less people see themselves as believers or attend church services. What needs to be done against this development and how can the Church be renewed? These were two of the main questions that Lutheran women bishops and presidents dealt with at a recent consultation organized by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) desk for Women in Church and Society (WICAS).

Hamburg Bishop Maria Jepsen, North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church, described the current situation in Germany: Many churches remained empty on Sundays. Due to the economic downturn several years ago the church's income had dropped considerably. Now the church was urgently looking for new ways to sustain itself. "In the meantime, churches are being sold. In the last six months I had to decommission five churches in Hamburg, and the end is not in sight," Jepsen said.

While clearly stating that the grim financial situation was a heavy burden for the German churches, she admitted that the church crisis was not just finance-related. It was also about spirituality and the value of biblical reflection itself. She emphasized the importance of reading and telling Bible stories, pointing out "this is not only a task for theologians but for every Christian."

"We need to get the ‘grand narratives' back into our lives. They are the emotional and social engines of society, of the church and in our personal lives." Despite their old age their value and meaning still endured, lasting for longer than any money in the world could, she stressed.

The situation in Sweden echoes Germany's*an increasingly secularized society with fewer and fewer church goers. The Church of Sweden has preserved much of the teaching and liturgy of the old, undivided church while undergoing some major changes. In 2000 it gained new status within the country. Having been a state church under the influence of state bodies for past centuries, it is now independent and has more freedom for own decisions, for example, on the choice of books of worship and the appointment of new vicars, deans and bishops, Bishop Caroline Krook, Stockholm Diocese explained.

She spoke of the need to link closely the necessary renewal of the church to burning issues like the church's treatment of homosexuals. "We need to find a position, which combines an adherence to the Bible with a current interpretation and use of the biblical texts."

"Church renewal is not something we achieve by [looking for it.] It is when the Church returns to its roots, to its task to proclaim in word and deed the good news to the marginalized, and to those who suffer in concrete situations that renewal comes to us as a free gift, sola gratia," Krook told the women church leaders attending the June 16-19 LWF Conference of Women Bishops and Presidents and Leaders with Ministry of Oversight.

Lutheran World Information
Julia Heyde, youth intern, LWF Office for Communication Services.