Agenda: Approval of long-term grants and visit to Czech church’s diaconal centers

The LWF Committee for Member Church Projects meets annually to receive reports on projects implemented during the previous year and approve long-term activities that start the following year. This will be the inaugural meeting of the committee, appointed by the LWF Council at its first meeting following the Thirteenth Assembly in September 2023.

The committee comprises LWF Council representatives, with members representing each of the seven LWF regions and related agencies that fund the projects.

The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren will host the event. The agenda includes an afternoon program facilitated by Diaconia ECCB, the church-run non-profit organization providing social, healthcare and educational services at its centers in the country. 

“Abound in Hope” (Rom. 15:13)

The Lutheran World Federation's annual governance meeting takes place in Geneva, Switzerland, from 13-18 June 2024.

On 12 June the LWF Executive Committee will meet and Pre-Council meetings for youth, women, and men will take place.

The LWF Council meets once a year and is responsible for LWF business between Assemblies. It consists of:

• the President
• the Chairperson of the Finance Committee
• 48 lay or ordained people, from LWF member churches in seven regions.

Members of this Council were appointed at the Thirteen Assembly in 2023.

Webinar to present new podcast about people on the move

LWF, in partnership with A World of Neighbours network, is launching a podcast about ordinary people doing extraordinary work to support vulnerable migrants and asylum seekers stranded on some of Europe’s remotest borders.

The eight-part series is a follow-up from the ‘Welcoming the Stranger, Living as Neighbors, Shaping the Future’ Conference, which took place in Geneva in June 2022.  The episodes will air weekly in the lead up to World Refugee Day in June 2024.

During the webinar, moderated by LWF program executive for Youth, Savanna Sullivan, A World of Neighbours director Rikko Voorberg will present the series in conversation with some of those interviewed in the forthcoming episodes.

To be Lutheran is to be ecumenical

The Institute for Ecumenical Research in Strasbourg welcomes applicants for this online study course aimed at Lutheran pastors and advanced students of theology. The seminar has three main goals:

• To transmit to a younger generation the historic achievements in overcoming conflicts between Lutherans and other Christian churches 
• To discuss ecumenical relationships in participants’ home countries and develop tools to analyze and further dialogue in local contexts 
• To develop a transcultural dialogue about ecumenical theology and practice in order to strengthen communion between different parts of the global communion of churches 

Participants will receive five lectures in video and written form to study in advance of the daily webinars. They will also receive a certificate of participation at the conclusion of the course, which costs €150 for the week. The aim of the seminar is to contribute to a deeper awareness of the LWF’s self-understanding: “To be Lutheran is to be ecumenical.”

Further details and application form below 

Note: Church endorsement is required

A new learning program to support the work of churches

During this workshop, diaconal practitioners from LWF member churches in Europe will be introduced to a new learning program to enhance the work of churches in various sectors. It looks at how the churches’ commitment to serving people in need contributes to building a society, politics and economy that place the well-being of individuals and community at the core of everyday life.

For several years now, the LWF European Diaconal process has been focused on 'seeking conviviality' as an inspiring concept for a diaconal church in times of growing diversity.

Conviviality is the practice of living together amid diversity and contradictions in our societies. It is about connecting people and mutual learning, well aware that shared life in community does not avoid conflict and division but finds ways for people to thrive together.

Related Content

• European Diaconal Process
• Interdiac - International Academy for Diaconia and Social Action 

Registration Deadline: 8 April 2024

“Dot not be afraid, I bring you good news!” (Luke 2:10-11)

Hosted by the Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil (IELCB), which is celebrating “200 years of Lutheran presence” this year, the Leadership Conference of the Americas (COL) will bring together church leaders, women and youth from LWF member churches in Latin America and the Caribbean and North America.

COL will explore the following themes:

• The relationship of fear and hope in the Bible
• God’s promise and God’s covenant with his people in our times
• The contribution of Lutheran theology
• Our churches as spaces where fear gives way to hope.
• Our churches as heralds of Good News

Youth and women from the regions will meet on 14 April where they will share their views and perspectives on the theme.

Visits to the training institute Faculdades EST and the Gender and Religion Program (Programa de Género y Religión) of its Sustainability Institute (InS) are also part of the agenda.

Hélène Ralivao Fund: Strengthening research skills and gender education among Lutheran churches in Africa

This is the third cohort of the Theology, Gender Justice and Leadership Education (TGLE) program, whose objective is to equip women and men in Lutheran churches in Africa with knowledge and research skills that promote gender-inclusive churches. It is a joint initiative of the LWF, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, and Tumaini University Makumira.

The two-week training in person, includes modules to facilitate research within three months in the participants’ home countries. The students will return to the university later to share their research findings, which will be published as TGLE readers and resources to serve the LWF communion.

There are 21 participants in this cohort. They come from Lutheran churches in Ethiopia, Gambia, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

Hélène Ralivao, after whom the program fund is named, was a leading Lutheran theologian and gender advocate from Madagascar.

Related information

• Gender Justice and Women’s Participation and Leadership

Conversations between practitioners in Iraq, Jerusalem, Jordan/Syria

The event will discuss how Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), life skills training and financial inclusion programming can provide a promising pathway for women to escape poverty in the Middle East and North Africa.

Panelists will also highlight the significant contextual challenges and systemic barriers that exist and how they limit opportunities for women within MENA.

The event will showcase the scope of LWF’s empowerment programming across the region, and celebrate the tenacity of Palestinian, Syrian, Jordanian and Iraqi women to overcome these obstacles and attain their education, career and financial goals.

Participants on this panel will discuss how the abuse of global financial systems negatively impacts women and girls. 

LWF, together with ecumenical partners, ACT Alliance, Norwegian Church Aid and FELM will host this parallel event as part of its engagements at the 68th Commission on the Status of Women. 

The discussion will focus on ways that international tax abuse, as well as other practices that undermine international financial laws, unfairly impact the lives of women and girls. This includes the debt burden on low-income countries, since women disproportionately bear the brunt of fiscal policy failures through many layers of injustice.  

The panel of participants, from different geographic regions, will suggest pathways to tackle the legal gap that facilitates this global scale abuse. The event will also discuss existing initiatives to promote a UN Tax Convention, including one led by the Group of African States at the United Nations. 

Register to join via Zoom

Accelerating the achievement of gender equality through poverty eradication

CSW provides an opportunity to promote women’s rights and call governments to concrete action on gender justice and women’s empowerment.

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is a moment to take stock of progress made in achieving gender equality and to highlight persisting challenges. 33 delegates from LWF member churches and country programs will participate in this annual global event.

The gathering provides civil society, including faith-based organizations, with a space to influence the UN agenda through oral and written statements, to engage with member state delegations and to shape the CSW outcome document. The LWF has worked with partners on three written statements and will participate in five parallel events, plus one side event, as well as conducting visits with government officials.

Participants at the 68th CSW will reflect on the priority theme: ‘Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective’. LWF delegates will share their wide-ranging, grass roots experiences of promoting gender justice and the alleviation of poverty in countries across the globe.