Society

Give Us Today Our Daily Bread
A Letter from Stuttgart, Germany

By Elizabeth Lobulu 

Recently I was part of at least 1,000 people who gathered for the Eleventh Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) from 17 to 27 July this year in Stuttgart, South Germany. 

Participants to the assembly which is the highest decision-making body of the LWF discussed issues of concern in church and society under the theme, “Give Us Today Our Daily Bread.” 

Retiring LWF president Bishop Mark S. Hanson said at the closing press conference that he left the Assembly “hopeful and grateful” and that the message from this Assembly, which grew out of the petition, ‘Give Us Today Our Daily Bread,’ is that we are not asking for bread alone but we are praying for everything that people need to sustain life each day. 

As they examined the fuller meaning of the Fourth Petition during the eight-day Assembly, delegates started to speak of “daily bread” in terms of food, environment, illegitimate debt, climate change and gender justice.  

                                                    Bishop Hanson, who completed his term as LWF President at the close of the Assembly
                                                    on 27 July, said “to have all that we collectively need does not mean only having food in
                                                    our stomachs but also that there will be justice for all people and sustainability of our environment.” 

The LWF has been renewed in its spirit and commitment, Hanson said. “I came to Stuttgart hopeful, and I will be leaving hopeful and grateful. So long as we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless and provide tents for refugees, we will be instruments of God’s answer to the prayer of others, ‘Give Us Today Our Daily Bread.™ 

 “Give Us Today Our Bread’ is about transforming the values that are holding together the global political, economic and social order… which is selfish,” said Rev. Nicta Lubaale, General Secretary of the Organization of African Instituted Churches (OAIC) on 26 July in his greeting to the assembly. 

Lubaale said it was his prayer that churches “continue to work together to engage and transform” such an order. “It is our daily bread, not my daily bread, that we should aspire to and work for,” he added. 

The petition of the Lord’s Prayer goes beyond “charity, compassion and relief,” Lubaale said. “All these are acceptable to God but they do not replace what the Scriptures demand of us and every system in place” that is the prophetic imperative for “justice.” 

In a message to the 145 churches in 79 countries that are members of the global Lutheran communion, the assembly noted that in an increasingly multicultural world, the need for dialogue and working together grows more urgent daily. “Being well grounded in our faith tradition enables us to be open, receptive and hospitable to others. 

The most significant legacy of the Assembly took place when delegates took the historic step of asking the Mennonites for forgiveness for past persecutions. Delegates unanimously approved a statement calling Lutherans to express their regret and sorrow for past wrongdoings towards Anabaptists and asking for forgiveness. 

The LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko said that the meeting had been very significant because the act of repentance and forgiveness between the Lutherans and Mennonites had taken place in the land of Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon. “This is the best place I could have ended my responsibilities,” he said, referring to the fact that he will retire as LWF General Secretary in October. 

Bishop Dr Frank O. July of the host church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Württemberg, echoed similar sentiments, saying that local church members were eager to see the reconciliation between the Lutherans and Mennonites taking place in their city. The action was indicative of the “Stuttgart spirit,” July said. 

The Archbishop of Canterbury The Most Revd Dr Rowan Williams said the Lord’s prayer keeps us awake to what we owe to our neighbour as a gift; “their humanity depends on ours, as ours does on theirs.” It is irrational to pray for our daily bread while at the same time seeking to hold on to it at the expense of others in one way or another, he said. 

The petition “Give Us Today Our Daily Bread” is not only asking God to provide today’s bread but also tomorrow’s bread, the Archbishop said 17 July this year in his keynote address to the Eleventh Assembly of the LWF. 

“Give Us Today Our Daily Bread” is a petition for all humanity, Williams said. The prayer “both challenges the arrogance of those who think they are not in need and establishes that the needy are fully possessed of a treasure that needs to be uncovered and released.”  

To commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, a “Luther Garden” has been created in Wittenberg in which 500 trees will be planted. Churches from around the world have been invited to sponsor a tree and at the same time plant one in their respective home congregations. In this way, a worldwide network of fellowship will be created by 2017.  

The Assembly adopted a resolution denouncing the degrading practice of human trafficking. It called for the communion to provide leadership through preaching, teaching and other forms of “public witness” that clearly opposes “the commercial exploitation of human beings.” 

The LWF and its member churches should also support and provide comprehensive sex education programs which empower women and men to take responsibility for their bodies and sexuality, the resolution said. 

Furthermore, the communion should counter the negative devaluation of female bodies by developing resources and materials in local languages. The media’s commercialization of the human body, especially the bodies of women and children, was denounced in the resolution. 

The Assembly also said that the communion should seek to construct “partnerships and cooperation” between religious and other agencies which are working for legislation that protects those freed from human trafficking and which are playing roles in bringing about “cultural transformation and the elimination of trafficking.” 

When we pray, we acknowledge that food is a gift from God, and ask that it continues to sustain our daily life,” said Ms Praxedis Bouwman, delegate from the Protestant Church in The Netherlands, and member of the Policy and Reference Committee.  

Presenting the resolution on poverty and food justice to the Eleventh Assembly of the LWF) today she said Churches should engage in advocacy campaigns with governments at all levels. These campaigns should challenge their actions, commitments and attitudes on food and economic justice as it relates to women and children and strengthen their response, the resolution said. 

Delegates also told the LWF to work globally in order to alleviate poverty and see that people have the food that is their right. This would involve member churches working together with one another and with civil society, particularly on common acts towards long-term sustainable change.  

“We ask the LWF to assist in the information-sharing and for targeting of these strategic partnerships,” the resolution stated. 

On the issue of debts Bishop Ángel Furlan of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Argentina told delegates that financial institutions consider only profits instead of also taking people’s needs into account, “which causes many people to be deprived of their daily bread.” 

Debt plays a fundamental part in excluding people from food, education and health services in countries where accumulated debt has become an overwhelming burden, he said. 

Member churches of the Lutheran Communion were urged to promote “mechanisms to help expose and obtain the annulment of all illegal or illegitimate debts” of developing countries, and to advocate for a “new international financial architecture” that favours justice, human rights and the environment. 

In a public statement adopted by the Assembly, delegates addressed the issue of illegitimate debt, that is, debts accumulated by developing countries to international creditors, often in times of dictatorships or when financial organizations considered only profits. 

For over three decades the servicing of developing countries’ external debts has forced millions of people into poverty by reducing their access to food and opportunity. 

The LWF Assembly urged its member churches to assume with “courage and decision” their role in giving “ethical and moral guidance” on issues such as foreign debt and economic governance. They should challenge governments and public and private lenders “to accept and implement the principle of shared responsibility.” 

According to the public statement on “Illegitimate debt and the international financial crisis” adopted by the LWF Assembly, the civil society has an “indispensable” role in “mobilizing political will and in the proposal and supporting of legal interventions” related to the issue. 

The 145 LWF member churches were urged to promote the “request for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice about debt and its regulatory framework in international law.”

Regarding the current financial crisis, the members of the communion were invited to incorporate “reflection and analysis” on its effects and causes. 

The Assembly elected a new LWF President, Rt Rev. Dr Munib A. Younan, who is the first person from the Asia region to hold the highest position at the LWF Secretariat. Younan, who is bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHC), succeeds Bishop Mark S. Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 

During the closing worship service, Younan and 48 other newly-elected Council members drawn from the seven LWF regions were installed. The new Council members included 10 representatives each from Africa and Asia; 8 from Central Western Europe; 6 from the Nordic Countries; 5 each from Central Eastern Europe and North America and 4 from the Latin American and Caribbean region.  

The new LWF Council held 28 to 29 July this year in Stuttgart and elected 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 led by Bishop Younan also elected Ms Christina Jackson-Skelton from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) as Treasurer. 

The seven LWF Vice-Presidents will 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. 

Out of the 1000 assembly participants 418 were 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. 

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. 

Pre-visitation programs were organized by the host church to give a chance to participants to rediscover the historical roots of the Lutheran Reformation, and also learn about the challenges facing the church in a secular world and about plans for the 2017 Reformation Jubilee. 

The sites visited included the Luther House, the Castle Church with the door on which the 95 Theses were nailed at the City Church (Stadtkirche).  

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 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. 

With 5.3 million members ELCT in Tanzania is the second largest member church in the LWF which has about 70 million members worldwide.

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