On Tuesday, I am heading to the 13th Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation, taking place in Krakow, Poland. I have never been to an LWF Assembly before, and I am really excited to experience the global Lutheran Church in this way. Before I go, I wanted to share a little information about the Lutheran World Federation, and this particular Assembly.
[This is the home page of the Lutheran World Federation; you can find more information here: https://www.lutheranworld.org/]
The LWF defines itself this way:
“We are a global communion of churches in the Lutheran tradition, living and working together for a just, peaceful, and reconciled world. We strive to put our Christian faith into action through humanitarian and development work, advocacy, shared witness, and dialogue.”
The LWF was founded at the end of WWII, in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, on these four pillars:
- Rescue the needy
- Common initiatives in mission
- Joints efforts in theology
- A common response to the ecumenical challenge.
There are 148 member Churches, representing more than 77 million Christians in 99 different countries. The Ethiopian Evangelical Church, Mekane Yesus, is the largest LWF member church with over 10 million members.
The LWF Assembly normally meets every six years, and the purpose is, among other things, to “empower the Lutheran communion for its witness and service in the coming year; and support the Lutheran communion to learn and reflect upon the local context in the host country and the regional context.” To that end, in our packet there was a length description about the Lutheran Church in Poland, which was really interesting. Also facilititing that understanding, a trip to Auschwitz is planned for the attendees, as well as visits to different congregations on Sunday morning. This learning is meant to open one’s eyes and hearts to the many different ways “church” exists and takes shape around the world, and the different ways it engages in varied social locations.
There is a booklet that describes this year’s theme: “One Body, One Spirit, One Hope,” with this subheading:
“Our identity as faith communities is formed by the proclamation of the Word, the confessional writings and catechisms, and by worship and acts of loving service in the world. How will member churches, individually and as a global communion of churches, be signs of hope in the midst of God’s creation, participating in God’s holistic mission of reconciling and renewing?”
The document goes on to emphasize the work of the Holy Spirit who creates, reconciles, and renews, and how the Spirit fosters our unity in difference: not uniformity, but “unity in reconciled diversity.” That is one of the things I am eager to experience in Krakow–the difference in worship, theology and mission on the ground among the different national Churches; and to see how those differences enhance the whole.
The Assembly focuses on “One Body” as a metaphor of inclusion and participation; “One Spirit” as the One whose activity “continually reaches out to the world, bringing all people together;” and “One Hope” as the “promise of cosmic reconciliation.” Participants are continually encouraged to reflect on what these three concepts mean in their own context, and how they are being lived out by the church in one’s own location. There is a practical urgency to the biblical and theological reflections that I really appreciate; the church matters in the world, and should be making a difference, because the gospel matters in the world.
The Study Booklet concludes with these words:
“The world urgently needs to hear the gospel of justification: God’s act of liberating grace. We are called into the adventure of living the gospel in our many contexts and together as a communion of churches that is called forth into the world.”
I can’t wait to see how this is lived out in the Assembly, and how we are sent forth when it is over to carry this message back to our own contexts–in words and in actions.
Happy Lutheran 