November 10, 2005

WINDHOEK, Namibia/GENEVA – "For the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), this gathering is a highly emotional experience that cannot be described with words, only tears of joy." This was the reply of LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko when asked what the 50th anniversary celebrations of the All Africa Lutheran Conference meant to the LWF. He was speaking at a November 9 press conference in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, where the celebrations are taking place.

"We have all been actively engaged in the struggle for Namibia's independence for many, many years, and now we thought it was appropriate to celebrate our 50 years of African Lutheran communion here, in the youngest country of Africa, which only became independent 15 years ago."

The conference, which brings together more than 80 representatives of African Lutheran churches, as well as partner churches and organizations in Windhoek, November 9-14, is being held under the theme "From Isolation to Communion: For the Healing of Africa." The first joint conference of African Lutheran churches took place in Marangu, Tanzania, in 1955. Bishop Dr Zephania Kameeta of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN) reminded the press of the Namibian delegation 50 years ago: "We went to Marangu as colonized people. Today, we welcome you in an independent country."

An African Church in Mission

Rev. Asfaha Mehari, president of the Evangelical Church of Eritrea, also looked back 50 years to when delegates from Eritrea had participated in the historical meeting. "It is therefore important for my church to be part and parcel of the Lutheran family gathered here in Windhoek and to reflect on the past and the future," Mehari said. He expressed hope that the meeting of African Lutheran churches would "give more strength to the unity of our various sub-regions of Africa": the Lutheran Communion in Central and Eastern Africa (LUCCEA), the Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa (LUCSA), and the Lutheran Communion in Western Africa (LUCWA).

LWF Department for Mission and Development area secretary for Africa, Rev. Dr Musa P. Filibus, thanked the Namibian government, and the three Namibian host churches, in relation to visa applications, not a single one of which had been refused. From the conference, he said he expected lively discussion on major issues such as HIV/AIDS, poverty and violence. For this reason, the conference is organized so as to minimize academic lectures and leave enough time for participants "to reflect on the life of the church itself, raise questions on how to proceed from Windhoek, and what it means to be an African church in mission," he continued.

The three Lutheran churches in Namibia and the LWF are jointly hosting the conference. The churches are the 300,000-member ELCRN, over 640,000-member Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN), and 6,500-member German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN-GELC).

There are 36 Lutheran churches in Africa, of which 30 are LWF members. Their total membership is 14.08 million in 22 countries of Central, Eastern, Southern and Western Africa.

Lutheran World Information