ELCT
Press Release
Date:
June 19, 2008
Press release No. 001/06/2008
Former
Tanzania Premier to address LWF Council in Arusha, Tanzania
Representatives from member churches of the Lutheran World Federation
(LWF) gather in Arusha, Tanzania for the 25 - 30 June meeting of the LWF
Council, hosted by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT).
The meeting's theme is "Melting Snow on Mount Kilimanjaro: A Witness
of a Suffering Creation."
The Council will begin with an opening worship service at the ELCT's Arusha Town Lutheran Church on 25 June, at which Bishop Thomas O. Laiser of the ELCT Arusha Diocese will preach.
The agenda of the
seven-day meeting includes plenary presentations of the LWF President's
Address by Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America, Report of the Treasurer Mr Peter Stoll, and of the
General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, followed by discussions in plenary
and at the Program Committee sessions. The LWF
Strategic Plan will also be presented.
The LWF Renewal Committee, chaired by Canadian Bishop Raymond Schultz will report on its work, as will the 11th Assembly Planning Committee, chaired by Ms Angelene Swart, president of the Moravian Church in South Africa.
This year's meeting will include a "Plenary on Africa" at which former Tanzanian Prime Minister Fredrick Tluway Sumaye will deliver the keynote address.
The Council participants will join worshippers in ELCT's Arusha congregations for Sunday morning services on 29 June. The program provides further possibilities to see the church's diaconal work around the Arusha region. Pre-Council exposure visits also include the work of the churches in Kenya and of the LWF Departments for World Service in neighboring Kenya and Rwanda. A Pre-Council youth workshop will be held 19-23 June.
The ELCT is Africa's second largest LWF member church with more than 4.6 million members, in its 20 dioceses. The head of the national church is Presiding Bishop Alex Malasusa.
The Council, LWF's governing body between Assemblies, meets once every 12 to 18 months. It consists of the President, who is elected by the Assembly, the Treasurer, who can be elected from among the membership or from outside, and 48 persons elected by the Assembly.
The Assembly, the LWF's highest governing body meets every six years. The 11th Assembly will be held 20-27 July 2010 in Stuttgart, Germany, hosted by the Evangelical Church in Württemberg.(LWI June 2008) ###
Prepared 19 June,
2008
LWF, Geneva, Switzwerland for the
Lutheran World Information on:
www.lutheranworld.org.
For more information contact:
Elizabeth
Lobulu
Communication Desk Officer, ELCT
E-mail: ELobulu@elct.or.tz