July 27, 2007

GENEVA – After some six months in office, the new president of the Bolivian Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELB), Rev. Luis Cristóbal Alejo Fernández, is pleased to note the considerable progress already achieved in his church. "We have made pertinent changes in our way of working," he said in an interview with Lutheran World Information (LWI) during his 8 June visit to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF).

Accompanied on the visit by IELB treasurer, Hilarión Rocha, Alejo mentioned a number of developments that had contributed toward change within the IELB. These included close cooperation at the congregational level, teamwork, improved communication and transparency, and work and thought on the church's future form and structure. "We have been asking ourselves what kind of church we want to be 20 years from now," he said. Before his election as president, Alejo worked for the church on a voluntary basis, as do most IELB pastors.

For the first time in the history of the IELB, Alejo pointed out, the church's seven-member governing board now includes three women. He added that progress also had been made toward greater involvement of young adults. One such example was that of Rocha who had been elected treasurer both as a youth representative and as a qualified financial auditor.

According to the president the IELB, as an indigenous church, would like to contribute in a special way both ecumenically and internationally to the worldwide Lutheran church community. In his role as the newly appointed Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) coordinator for work with the indigenous people of the Andes region, Alejo anticipates new responsibilities for himself and for the IELB. For the LWF Eleventh Assembly, planned for 2010 in Stuttgart, Germany, Alejo pointed to the principle of cosmic interaction and respect for nature of traditional indigenous wisdom. He said it was imperative that indigenous experience be taken into account in relation to the Assembly theme "Give Us Today Our Daily Bread."

The IELB has around 22,000 members, the majority of whom are part of the indigenous population. The church has been a member of the LWF since 1975. (369 words)

Lutheran World Information