November 7, 2008

CHICAGO – The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Rev. Ishmael Noko, LWF general secretary, sent a letter of congratulations Nov. 5 to U.S. Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill., on his election to become the 44th president of the United States.

Speaking of an "historic moment" for the country, Hanson and Noko commended Obama's passionate commitment to overcoming racial, political, social and economic divisions in the United States. Obama's election is a sign that U.S. Americans share this desire to overcome discrimination, they noted. "It is the affirmation – if not yet the fulfillment – of the struggles and aspirations of generations of the excluded and the marginalized."

Obama's victory in the Nov. 4 election has significance not just for the United States but for the entire global human family, the LWF leaders stated. The time is ripe for the construction of a society in which "people are judged truly for who they are," they wrote, and the fruit of Obama's efforts in the United States may bring hope to many throughout the world.

Hanson and Noko also emphasized commonalities in the challenges facing the new president-elect and those encountered by the Lutheran global communion in promoting human dignity and justice around the world. They said they believe the ideals inspiring LWF's service to the poor and oppressed are ideals and responsibilities that the LWF shares with the senator.

Hanson and Noko expressed the hope that the future U.S. president will be able to fulfill the heavy responsibilities he will be assuming, and they assured the new leader that the LWF will accompany him with prayers for wisdom, courage and fortitude to meet the unprecedented constellation of challenges at hand.

The full text of the letter is at http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2304.EN.html, on the LWF Web site.

Lutheran World Information