October 27, 2009

GENEVA – The Council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) extended full LWF membership to the Evangelical Church in Central Germany (EKM). The EKM came into existence in January 2009 as the result of a merger between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia (ELKT) and the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony, becoming the legal successor to both churches.

The EKM has around 910,000 members. The number of LWF member churches remains unchanged at 140 churches in 79 countries. However, the membership figure goes up by just under 480,000 to a total of 68.94 million.

The Council endorsed the new church on 26 October upon a recommendation from the Standing Committee for Membership, whose report was presented by committee chairperson Rev. Claudia Schreiber of the Church of Lippe (Lutheran Section), Germany.

The ELKT, a United church, joined the LWF in 1947. In 1817, King Frederick William III of Prussia decreed the merger of the Lutheran and Reformed congregations in his territory, giving rise to the United churches.

"We are glad to become members of the LWF and intend to remain so," LWF Council member Thomas Jensch, a youth representative from the ELKT told Lutheran World Information (LWI). According to the LWF Bylaws, if a merger takes place involving one or more member churches and one or more non-member Lutheran churches, it is sufficient that the new church declares that it wishes to belong to the Federation.

The two churches had been moving closer together for ten years. In 2007, their synods took the decision to merge, which became effective on 1 January 2009.

Bishop Ilse Junkermann was elected as the first EKM regional bishop in March 2009. The bishop's seat is in Magdeburg and the church office in Erfurt. The EKM's territory hosts some of the most significant memorial sites of the Reformation such as the Luther town of Wittenberg, the Luther town of Eisleben, Mansfeld, Wartburg Castle in Eisenach and the Augustinian Monastery in Erfurt. (345 words

More information on the 2009 LWF Council meeting is available on the LWF Web site at: http://www.lutheranworld.org/.

Around 75 representatives from LWF member churches and partner organizations are attending this year's Council meeting at Chavannes-de-Bogis near Geneva, Switzerland. An additional 90 registered participants include invited guests, stewards, interpreters and translators, media persons and LWF staff.

The 49-member Council is the LWF's governing body, meeting every 12-18 months between Assemblies held every six years. The current Council was appointed at the July 2003 Tenth Assembly in Winnipeg, Canada. It comprises the President, Treasurer as well as lay and ordained persons, representing the different LWF regions.

The Council host church, the Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Churches in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein has 6,818 members, and has been an LWF member church since 1979. It is headed by Ms Dagmar Magold.

Lutheran World Information