June 19, 2008

GENEVA – "If the worldwide Lutheran communion is doing well the local congregations flourish," stated Rev. Alan Eldrid, president of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church (IELU) in Argentina and Uruguay, during a 28 May visit to the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Geneva secretariat.

In an interview with Lutheran World Information (LWI) Eldrid said belonging to the worldwide communion of LWF members, was particularly important for small churches like the IELU.

He underlined the holistic understanding of the communion of Lutheran Christians, saying he welcomed the changed understanding of the Lutheran communion as reflected in its expanded name: "The Lutheran World Federation – A Communion of Churches," affirmed at the 2003 Tenth Assembly in Winnipeg, Canada. That makes it clear that all Lutherans are on the road together and accompanying one another.

"We should understand ourselves as a church, as a community at one table. The table of sacraments, sharing, discussions-the table at which we sit together with room for everyone," noted Eldrid. He said a holistic understanding of the Lutheran communion would also lead to a change in the understanding of diakonia. It is about being "supporters and no longer coordinators. ... People in need should receive assistance but as a process of helping them to help themselves, so that they can use their knowledge first for themselves and then assist others." AIDS Response "We benefit greatly from cooperation with the LWF, especially in the AIDS response campaign," said Eldrid, citing a program started back in 1986 by Argentine pastor Lisandro Orlov, with visits to people living with HIV. "The program has kept growing and it is helping to change the church," he said of the initiative that promotes theological reflection, particularly on open-mindedness toward others, and advocates against discrimination.

Eldrid, who was recently re-elected for another four-year term, also spoke of the illegitimate debt advocacy program of the Latin American LWF member churches, begun in 2004, with support from the Department for Mission and Development, and coordination at local level. Although it is still a young initiative, "we have already achieved quite a lot. With time it will blossom and flourish even more," he said of the churches' efforts to increase awareness about foreign debt illegitimacy at different church levels in developing and industrialized countries.

On 2 November the 11,000-member IELU will mark the centenary of Lutheran mission in Spanish language in the country. "We are thrilled about the mission centenary. Mission in Spanish began surprisingly early and was unique at the time," noted Eldrid, saying the celebrations will culminate in a public presentation of the diaries and letters of American missionary Silas David Daugherty, documenting the 1908 beginning of mission in the Argentina.

The first Lutherans arrived in Argentina from northern Europe in the second half of the 19th century. Lutheran communities were gradually formed, worshipping in their respective local languages, which eventually led to a paradigm shift in the congregational life of Spanish-speaking mission: worship was conducted in the national language and the first Spanish-speaking congregations were founded. "The feeling of togetherness among Lutheran Christians in Argentina was further enhanced through the national language services," said the IELU president .

He expressed the hope that in the future "the feeling of being together [and] belonging to a network will be further strengthened, so that all Lutheran Christians will feel at home in the local churches and in the worldwide communion."

The IELU became an independent national church in 1948, and joined the LWF in 1951.

Lutheran World Information
The interview with President Eldrid was conducted by Claudia Schubert of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover. She is doing her assistant pastor placement in the LWF Office for Communication Services as part of the study-abroad program of the Evangelical Church in Germany.