June 20, 2008

GENEVA – "The African spider builds webs and is always in the center of the web. But the African spider depends only on itself. Human beings can never stand alone. They need to build bridges between one another against isolation," said Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) at a mid-May communication conference in Geneva.

The LWF Office for Communication Services (OCS) hosted the 19 – 22 May round table that focused on the creation of a new LWF Internet site. The more than 45 participants represented LWF member churches, partner organizations and regional networks, as well as LWF staff persons and representatives of international organizations with offices located in Geneva's Ecumenical Center. Discussions revolved around ways in which a holistic understanding of communion could be reflected on an Internet site.

OCS director, Ms Karin Achtelstetter emphasized implications of a new Web presence, which expressed the new understanding of communion: "If we take the LWF's self-understanding as a communion of churches seriously, the online presence of the Lutheran communion needs to be an authentic expression of this self-understanding."

Moreover, according to Rev. Dr Hans-Peter Grosshans, DTS Study Secretary for Theology, "In the Lutheran understanding ‘communio' is mainly realized in the coming together of people who share their faith and lives." He spoke of his conviction that a modern Internet presence can foster fellowship among all Lutherans throughout the world and would highlight "the diversity of individuals and their contribution to the richness of the communal life of the Christian community."

Rev. Dr Kjell Nordstokke, Director of the LWF Department for Mission and Development (DMD) stressed the need to prioritize "building up mutual relations of unity and witness as a communion of Lutheran churches, with ecumenical commitment." This would ensure that all Lutherans everywhere feel they are part of a global community.

During the four-day event, participants on the basis of presentations, best practice examples and working groups, examined various scenarios for an enhanced Internet presence of both the LWF and global Lutheran communion.

Audience Identification

With regard to the official LWF Internet site, the participants called for the development of a more user-friendly site, more focused on its real audience, using a content management system (CMS).

In order to embody the holistic understanding of a world communion of churches in an Internet site, the participants suggested that the current Web pages of Lutheran churches and institutions be linked via a special Web site, using the metaphor of a garden.

Commenting on this choice, Ms Daranne Harris, director of Communications and Education at Canadian Lutheran World Relief (CLWR) said, "The image of a garden helps us to understand that all Lutherans can contribute to the new Internet presence of the LWF, moreover that we are part of it together."

Internet specialist Bjoern Ericsson from the Church of Sweden said the primary concern was to improve information dissemination, adding, "I think that there is good potential to improve possibilities to share information, for example on discussion forums and blogs which would make the Internet presence more interactive."

LWF/DMD youth intern, Mr Cheong Mun Chan from Hong Kong stressed the importance of providing young people greater opportunities to participate in discussions on LWF topics interactively, especially those currently involved in DMD-sponsored internships.

Mr Dirk-Michael Groetzsch, head of the LWF/OCS "Visibility" team, which is in charge of developing the new LWF Web site, expressed his deep satisfaction with the wealth of proposals made by the participants. These proposals will be rapidly integrated into a development plan to relaunch the LWF Web site. The concept of a world Lutheran communion Web page in a "Lutheran garden" configuration will be presented to the Program Committee for Communication Services for discussion at the June 2008 LWF Council meeting in Arusha, Tanzania.

Lutheran World Information
The author, Claudia Schubert from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover, is doing a pastoral training internship at the LWF Office for Communication Services, under the aegis of Evangelical Church in Germany.