November 18, 2005

WINDHOEK, Namibia/GENEVA – Participants in the Africa Lutheran Church Leadership Conference have agreed to establish a Lutheran Council in Africa to strengthen cooperation and enhance efforts in addressing challenges faced by the churches there. The historic conference took place 9*14 November in Windhoek, Namibia, under the theme, "From Isolation to Communion: For the Healing of Africa."

The leaders of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches in Africa also committed themselves, in a final statement, to actively engage in renewal of the whole Lutheran communion.

The new council would guide and ensure the participation and input of all member churches in the Africa region in relation to the proposed LWF renewal process (see http://www.lutheranworld.org/news/lwi/en/1727.en.html, and serve as a monitoring mechanism in the implementation of the conference commitments. It would also ensure good governance, transparency, and equitable power sharing in the churches, including the involvement of women, youth and people with disabilities.

The participants, comprised of over 80 representatives of African Lutheran churches and partner churches and organizations, stressed that communion was not possible without communication. They resolved to establish the Africa Lutheran Communication and Information Network (ALCINET) that would include a Web site located with the Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa (LUCSA), print media with the Lutheran Communion in Central and Eastern Africa (LUCCEA), and audio and video communication, so-called airwaves, with the Lutheran Communion in Western Africa (LUCWA).

Renewed Commitment to Fight Against HIV/AIDS

The participants also reaffirmed the commitments of the first Pan-African church leaders' consultation on the challenges of HIV/AIDS in May 2002, which officially launched the global LWF HIV/AIDS campaign and action plan titled, "Compassion, Conversion, Care: Responding as Churches to the HIV/AIDS Pandemic." They pledged to mainstream HIV/AIDS in all church activities and develop policies that guard against stigmatization and discrimination of all people living with HIV/AIDS.

Recognizing that the suffering in churches and congregations today could not be handled by the ordained leadership alone, the church leaders stressed the need to review current theological curricula for relevance, establish management and leadership-training programs for senior church leaders, and embark on lay-leadership training and empowerment in line with the Lutheran understanding of the priesthood of all believers.

Sustainability in the Church

They further acknowledged the difficult working environment for church workers throughout the continent. They stressed the need for a plan of action to address issues related to sustainability and working conditions in their churches and to seek the accompaniment of the LWF and partners in such a process.

The three Lutheran churches in Namibia and the LWF jointly hosted the Africa Lutheran Church Leadership Conference, which also commemorated the 50th anniversary of the first joint conference of African Lutheran churches held in Marangu, Tanzania, in 1955.

Lutheran World Information