ELCT Press Release
Date: August 3, 2010
Press release No. 001/08/2010
Bishop Malasusa becomes Vice-President
of LWF
by Elizabeth Lobulu
The newly-elected Council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has chosen the Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT), Dr. Alex Gehaz Malasusa, to be among the seven Vice-Presidents of the global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition.
The Council meeting held in Stuttgart, Germany, 28 to 29 July this year, led by Bishop Dr. Munib A. Younan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, also elected Ms Christina Jackson-Skelton from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) as Treasurer.
The seven LWF Vice-Presidents represent the LWF regions: Africa, Asia, Central Eastern Europe, Central Western Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Nordic Countries and North America. The Vice-Presidents also chair the Program Committees while the LWF goes through a renewal process which will be concluded in 2012.
Bishop Malasusa who represents the Africa region as vice-president will also serve as Chairperson of the Program Committee for Mission and Development.
More than 1,000 people took part in the Eleventh LWF Assembly in Stuttgart, Germany held July 20 to 27 this year, including about 418 delegates of which 50% were women. Participants also included invited ecumenical observers, official visitors, interpreters and translators, stewards, members of the LWF staff and co-opted staff and accredited journalists.
Earlier, Bishop Malasusa was among 48 nominees representing the seven regions of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) who were elected on July 24 to the Council at the Eleventh LWF Assembly.
Some of the delegates took part in pre-visitation programs organized by the Host Church, the Lutheran Church in Württemberg and saw historical sites connected to Martin Luther and the Reformation.
The ELCT Presiding Bishop led the Tanzanian delegation, comprising eleven delegates and eight observers, to the Eleventh LWF Assembly. Among the delegates were the Secretary General Mr. Brighton Killewa and Bishop Elisa Buberwa. Others delegates were Mrs. Rachel Ramadhani, Mrs. Mary Laiser, Ms Omega Mahenge, Mr. Freedom Kishimbo, Mrs. Aripa Marealle, Mr. Elifuraha Laitaika, Rev. Victoria Ntenga and Rev. Eliet Kiiza.
The Assembly is the highest decision making body of the LWF and is held every seven years. Previous assemblies were in Winnipeg, Canada, in 2003 and Hong Kong in 1997.
The theme of the Eleventh Assembly was: "Give us today our daily bread."
The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF now has 145 member churches in 79 countries around the world, representing more than 70 million Christians.
Issued
by the:
Secretary General's Office,
ELCT
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Elizabeth Lobulu
Communication Coordinator,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania
Box 3033, ARUSHA, Tanzania.
Phone: +255-27-250-8856/7
FAX: +255-27-254-8858
E-mail: Elizabeth Lobulu <ELobulu@elct.or.tz>
For more information contact:
Elizabeth
Lobulu
Communication Desk Officer, ELCT
E-mail: ELobulu@elct.or.tz