wfn.org | LWI News in Brief No. 06/2008

["LWFNews" <LWFNews@lutheranworld.org>]

>LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
>LWI News online:
>http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/Welcome.EN.html 

- LWF National Committee Established in Russia
- Lobulu to Coordinate LWI Regional Production in Africa
- Editorial on Sister LWI Edition for Africa

>LWF National Committee Established in Russia

A National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) has
been established in the Russian Federation. It comprises the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia and Other States (ELCROS),
the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria in Russia (ELCIR), as
well as the ELCROS regional churches - the Evangelical Lutheran
Churches of European Russia; and Ural, Siberia and Far East.

The aim of the LWF National Committee is to proclaim the Word of
God together, and foster common activities and contacts with the
state and the Lutheran communion at national and global levels.

"[It] offers an opportunity for many new activities. In the
upcoming period we will have to think about our specific
contribution to strengthening the Lutheran communion," said
ELCROS Archbishop Dr Edmund Ratz, following the committee's
founding on 25 April . 

ELCIR Bishop Arri Kugappi, expressed the hope that the new body
would help its members "in creating a kind of 'practical
symphony' with cooperation at many levels."

Rev. Dr Eva Sibylle Vogel-Mfato, area secretary for Europe at
the LWF Department for Mission and Development praised the
founding of the National Committee: "In a secular environment the
churches have more weight when they take joint positions. They
can do that much more successfully if they work on the basis of
trust. May the new national committee be an instrument for
strengthening the Lutheran communion in Russia." The Lutheran
churches worldwide could learn from the faith experience in
Russia, she noted, adding, "We in the global Lutheran communion
will accompany the new LWF National Committee and pray God's
blessing upon it."

The founding of the LWF National Committee in the Russian
Federation took place in the framework of an international
conference, 24 - 25 April, focusing on the subject, "Church and
State in Post-Soviet Countries, 15 Years After Perestroika." The
conference, jointly organized by the LWF, ELCROS, ELCIR and St
Petersburg's Department for Religious Affairs was held at the
ELCROS theological seminary in Novosaratovka, near St Petersburg.
(329 words)

(By Marina Chudenko, ELCROS public relations officer.)

>*       *       *

Lobulu to Coordinate LWI Regional Production in Africa

Ms Elizabeth Lobulu, communication coordinator at the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) has taken up the
role of LWI Regional Production Coordinator in a new partnership
between the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Office for
Communication Services (OCS) and the ELCT. (See pilot project
description in “Editorial.”) 

Effective 1 May 2008, Lobulu coordinates the production and
distribution from Tanzania, of a regional edition of the printed
monthly LWF newsletter - Lutheran World Information (LWI). It
will include the international LWI content in English and
additional pages profiling topical issues for churches in the
region in their popular languages. 

Lobulu, 54, has led the ELCT communication unit since 1994. She
joined the church in 1988 as assistant editor and later editor of
its Uhuru na Amani newsletter. From 1980 to 1988, she worked with
the Tanzania News Agency (SHIHATA) as a features' writer and
editor. She pursued journalism training at the Tanzania School of
Journalism in Dar es Salaam, 1978-1980, and at the International
Institute for Journalism in Berlin, Germany, 1992. 

Lobulu is married, with three children. (185 words)

>*       *       *

>Editorial on Sister LWI Edition for Africa 

With this special issue of Lutheran World Information (printed
edition of LWI No. 06/2008), the Office for Communication
Services (OCS) of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is setting
out in a new direction. For the first time, the global LWI
edition produced at the Geneva secretariat will have a sister
edition for the African region.

At OCS, we are constantly asking ourselves how we can best meet
the challenge of faithfully reflecting the LWF sense of identity
as a communion of churches. The ways in which we communicate
should be - this is our belief - an authentic expression of this
communion.

We are grateful for the important insights provided by the
comprehensive LWF communication audit and its analysis of the
publications and Web sites of all LWF units. The recommendations
made by the auditors - a team of communication professionals from
LWF member churches - called for "more partnership and
participation in the communication process," including "content
contribution, translation, publishing and distribution." They
recommended as a starting point the launching of pilot projects
in collaboration with member churches.

One such pilot project is the LWI African region special issue.

In close partnership with OCS, the communication office of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) is carrying out a
two-year pilot project involving the publication of an African
region version of LWI in Tanzania. It will include international
LWI content in English and additional pages that focus on
topical issues for the region's churches in their respective
popular languages. The aim is to strengthen the identity of the
LWF in Africa as a communion of churches and enhance
communication within the member churches and partner
organizations.

Its target groups are current LWI English subscribers and
subscribers in Africa who previously received the French version,
FLM Info (Fédération luthérienne mondiale - FLM Information), and
additional local subscribers from the ELCT, as well as contacts
through the regional Lutheran communication body, Africa Lutheran
Information and Communication Network (ALCINET).

My colleagues and I are delighted that this project has become a
reality. We are especially grateful to the ELCT who embraced this
initiative with enthusiasm and creativity.

It is our sincere hope that this project will serve as a
catalyst for other LWF regions and member churches, encouraging
them to join together to seek forms of communication which
contribute to our sense of identity and deeper communion.

>Ms Karin Achtelstetter
>OCS Director and Editor-in-Chief

>*       *       *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF
currently has 140 member churches in 78 countries all over the
world, with a total membership of over 68.3 million. The LWF acts
on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such
as ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF’s information
service. Unless specifically noted, material presented does not
represent positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various
units. Where the dateline of an article contains the notation
(LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with
acknowledgment.] 

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