Mikka McCracken presents the report of the Committee for Advocacy and Public Voice at Council 2014. Photo: LWF/M. Renaux
Interreligious Dialogue, Peace and Justice
(LWI) – The LWF Council meeting in Medan, Indonesia from 11 – 17 June, 2014 adopted six public statements, reflecting issues discussed at Council and concerns of member churches brought to the Council.
Statement on Indonesia
Meeting in Medan, Indonesia, the Council was exposed to the situation of the Lutheran minority churches in a largely Muslim country. The Council statement on Indonesia gives thanks for the vibrant and faithful witness of sisters and brothers in Indonesia. It states that “the LWF Council joins and supports the Indonesian churches in their efforts to uphold freedom of religion, their interreligious solidarity in working against injustice and in responding to human need, and in their continuing engagement in dialogue with different religious groups to promote understanding and just and peaceful communities.”
Statement on Climate Justice
During the Council meeting participants took part in a “fast for the climate action” to support the global interfaith campaign #fastfortheclimate. The campaign was spearheaded by the LWF delegation to COP 19 in Warsaw in November, 2013.
The statement on climate justice reiterates LWF’s commitment to climate justice as evidenced by previous Assembly and Council statements; and it calls on member churches to take action on organizational, congregational and personal level to become more eco-friendly. The statement also calls LWF member churches to engage in the #fastfortheclimate campaign.
Statement on Climate Justice | Fast for the Climate
Statement on Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa
LWF member churches in sub-Saharan Africa have, in the past months, offered more statements in which they have spoken out against the recent violence in some countries in the region, including the abduction of school girls and women in Nigeria.
Council members at the 2014 meeting expressed their shared pain with the LWF member churches in the region. In a statement on violence in sub-Saharan Africa, the Council strongly condemned all violence and called upon all partiers and the international community to take immediate action to release those held captive; to desist from using violence and to prevent barbaric actions such as abduction from taking place in the future.
Statement on Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa
Statement on Ukraine
The LWF has a member church in Ukraine, which also has congregations on the Crimean peninsula that is affected by the recent instability in the region. The statement on the Ukraine called for prayers for the people in the Ukraine and in particular for the LWF member church in its ongoing witness and service.
Statement on the Universal Code of Conduct on Holy Sites
The LWF Council 2014 endorsed the Universal Code of Conduct on Holy Sites, which is a document developed in consultation with religious leaders and experts from many of the world’s major faiths. The Council also encouraged member churches to support initiatives in their context and called upon the United Nations to adopt a UN resolution in the spirit of the Code.
Statement on the Universal Code of Conduct on Holy Sites | Universal Code of Conduct on Holy Sites
Statement on Welcoming the Stranger
Following the Council adoption of the “Welcoming the Stranger,” code of conduct for faith leaders in 2013, the document has been widely distributed globally and regionally. The statement on welcoming the stranger encourages “our congregations and all people of faith to build their relationships with the “strangers” among them, and to be more open, to have more faith, and to trust God´s own support.”
Statement on Welcoming the Stranger
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