Choir at opening prayer service. Photo: Joanna Lindén-Montes/WCC
LWF at the WCC Assembly in Busan
(LWI) – Representatives of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) member churches are among the 3,000 participants in the World Council of Churches (WCC) 10th Assembly taking place in Busan, Republic of Korea, 30 October-8 November.
“God of life, lead us to justice and peace,” is the theme of the assembly, WCC’s highest governing body, gathering its member churches once every seven years.
The assembly includes confessional meetings to facilitate the contribution of the respective Christian World Communions to WCC’s life and work. At Lutheran confessional meetings organized by the LWF on 1 and 7 November, LWF General Secretary Rev. Martin Junge will speak on “LWF, WCC and the ecumenical movement in Busan.” Other contributors will focus on human security, peace and human rights, the 500th Reformation anniversary in 2017 as well as the Twelfth LWF Assembly in Windhoek, Namibia, among other topics.
LWF President Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan will greet the Assembly on 4 November.
A photo exhibition highlighting LWF’s contribution towards a just, peaceful and reconciled world shows the Lutheran communion’s work in theological reflections, diaconal programs, humanitarian response and advocacy across the world.
During the WCC Women and Men’s Pre-Assembly, Rev. Dr Elaine Neuenfeldt, LWF secretary for Women in Church and Society (WICAS), addressed the issue of “Identifying and dismantling patriarchy and other systems of oppression for women.”
She noted that in order to transform systems of oppression and achieve gender justice, there is a need for clear processes, strategies and policies that promote and encourage the equal participation of women.
