Topic: 2.Sharing

Ecumenical Greetings

“Lutherans and Catholics Can No Longer Afford Our Differences”
Walter Cardinal Kasper said that “Lutheran-Catholic relations have been since the beginning of our international dialogue … in my heart and will remain in my heart.”

He said that the 1999 signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification was “a milestone of the ecumenical movement.”


Kasper paid tribute to LWF President Bishop Mark S. Hanson and LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko as “good friends” of Lutheran-Roman Catholic relationships.

But the ecumenical agenda is still unfinished. “We have every reason to continue and even to intensify and deepen our dialogues,” the Cardinal said. Referring to the Assembly theme, “Give Us Today Our Daily Bread,” he said that the millions of people who lack daily bread are “our common responsibility,” and that Lutherans and Roman Catholics “can no longer afford our differences” when it comes to helping people in need.

“Our dialogues must continue,” he said, “but at the same time we have to reflect on how to engage more in common cultural, social and environmental projects.”

The cardinal retired as President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity on 1 July this year

“LWF Thanked for “Prayer and Accompaniment”
The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) serves as an example of communion, said Rev. Dr Sentri Nyomi to the LWF’s Eleventh Assembly yesterday. Speaking on behalf of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC), he said, “Thank you for praying along with us and accompanying us on your journey.”

Nyomi was referring to the merger of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council which took place in June this year. “We are thankful for the presence of an LWF delegation,” said Nyomi, “and for your encouragement along the way.”

Nyomi affirmed a feeling of closeness between the WCRC and the LWF and a commitment, “to look for ways of deepening the relationship” between the two global organizations.
The WCRC brings together 80 million Reformed Christians worldwide.

“Lutherans’ commitment to unity needed “more than ever”, WCC General Secretary Says
The Lutheran insistence on the fact "that we are one because we are sharing the one and same Christ, because we receive the same gift" is something the ecumenical movement needs now "more than ever", said the World Council of Churches (WCC) General Secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, speaking in Stuttgart yesterday.

Tveit was greeting participants at the beginning of the Eleventh Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) gathered in Stuttgart, Germany, 20-27 July. The theme of the Assembly is "Give Us Today Our Daily Bread". Over 1,000 participants from all over the world, including 418 delegates from 140 churches in 79 countries are attending the event.

Offering thanks for the contribution of the Lutheran churches to the fellowship of the WCC "both today and in decades past,” Tveit highlighted some of the many gifts received from the Lutheran communion. "You are known for your commitment to peace with justice, to mission, diakonia and to ecumenical dialogue and inter-religious cooperation. Let it be so also in the future,” he said.

The theme of the Assembly "touches the heart of the gospel and therefore also the heart of our being one in Christ,” Tveit said. "When we pray for daily bread,” he added, "we acknowledge the body of Christ, the bread of life, given for our salvation, and we experience the hunger of justice that calls us into communion for actions of sharing.”
The WCC General Secretary acknowledged that "there are several reasons given for why churches are not fully sharing the one bread in the Eucharist.” However, Tveit added, "in the light of your theme and the affirmation of the one bread, there are even more important theological and moral reasons why we continue to do anything we can do to come to the same table and have a common sharing of the one bread.”

“International Lutheran Council head concerned that Reformation, scriptural truth being lost
The chairman of the International Lutheran Council expressed thanks for the relationships developed between The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), while at the same time lamenting the directions taken on matters of sexuality by some LWF member churches.

The Rev. Gerald Kieschnick, who is also president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, a denomination in the United States, said he feared that “many of the sacred scriptural truths which precipitated the Reformation are in danger of being lost.”

Kieschnick said that challenges to Christian truth have “first been tolerated, then accepted, and now affirmed.” Christians today, he added, have no “general consensus of broad concurrence, not to mention complete agreement on what constitutes marriage in the eyes of God, or what is acceptable or non-acceptable sexual behavior.”

The ILC president was referring to on-going controversies in Lutheranism and other denominations over whether to bless same sex unions or allow non-celibate homosexuals to serve as pastors and other church workers.

“I share these words with this Assembly neither to stand in judgment, nor ignoring the logs in my own eye,” he said, “but with a heavy heart.” Kieschnick said that such controversies can lead to “significant internal strife, serious spiritual conflict and even organic schism.”

Despite his concern that Reformation principles and biblical truth was in danger in some LWF churches, Kieschnick referred to LWF President Mark Hanson as “my brother in Christ” and expressed gratitude for his friendship. “While we do not agree on numerous matters of faith and life,” he said, “I have genuinely appreciated your fraternal collegiality and gentle spirit and pray God’s blessings on your future endeavors.”

Kieschnick’s term as president of the 2.3 million member LC-MS is at an end, for although he was a candidate for re-election, the Rev. Matthew Harrison was elected president by a slim margin, when the church met in convention this month.

““We Recognize Ourselves as Children of the Reformation”
“This is the beauty of the worldwide Body of Christ, that we have been given different gifts,” said Dr Jean-Daniel Plüss, co-chair of the Lutheran-Pentecostal Study Group. Bringing greetings on behalf of the Pentecostal churches, he said that we can be good stewards, learn from one another and encourage one another through the power of Christ which unites us all.

This year the publication, “Lutherans and Pentecostals in Dialogue,” was published. “For us Pentecostals, too, there is the wish to engage in further discussions with Lutherans, as we recognize ourselves as children of the Reformation,” Plüss said.

It was in the 1990s that the LWF first expressed a desire for dialogue with “classical Pentecostals.” The Lutherans believed that such dialogue “would help them to better relate to Charismatic believers among their own ranks,” Plüss said. The first meeting took place in 2004 and since then, through ongoing discussions, “bonds of trust” have been established. Within this context, “burning issues”, for example the problem of proselytism (or “sheep stealing”) were addressed.

The power of the Holy Spirit will transform us, he said. “This power transforms us; this power reunites families and brings people together in the bond of love ... One day, the power of God will bring us together and make us one in Christ.”

“It is our daily bread, not my daily bread”
“‘Give Us Today Our Bread’ is about transforming the values that are holding together the global political, economic and social order … which is selfish,” said Rev Nicta Lubaale, General Secretary of the Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC), in his greeting to the Eleventh Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) today.

Lubaale said it was his prayer that churches “continue to work together to engage and transform” such an order. “It is our daily bread, not my daily bread, that we should aspire to and work for,” he added.

The petition of the Lord’s Prayer goes beyond “charity, compassion and relief,” Lubaale said. “All these are acceptable to God but they do not replace what the Scriptures demand of us and every system in place” that is the prophetic imperative for “justice.”

Regarding the action taken earlier by the Assembly asking forgiveness from the Mennonites for past persecutions, Lubaale congratulated the Assembly for the “humility you have exhibited in the process of dealing with a difficult past.”

“Your courage to repent publicly has not only started a process of healing between the Lutherans and the Mennonites but also in the whole body of Christ,” Lubaale said.