Lutheran World Federation | |
---|---|
Type | Communion |
Classification | Protestant |
Orientation | Lutheran |
Scripture | Protestant Bible |
President | Henrik Stubkjær |
General Secretary | Anne Burghardt |
Headquarters | Ecumenical Centre (Geneva, Switzerland) |
Origin | 1947 |
Members | 77 million |
Official website | www |
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Lutheranism |
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The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; German : Lutherischer Weltbund) is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of Lund in the aftermath of the Second World War in 1947 to coordinate the activities of the many differing Lutheran churches. Since 1984, the member churches are in pulpit and altar fellowship, with common doctrine as the basis of membership and mission activity.
The LWF now has 149 member church bodies in 99 countries representing over 77 million Lutherans; [1] as of 2022, it is the sixth-largest Christian communion (see list of denominations by membership). 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.
The Department for World Service is the LWF's humanitarian and development arm. It has programmes in 24 countries and is the UNHCR ninth largest implementing partner. The LWF is a member of ACT Alliance.
On 31 October 1999, in Augsburg, Germany, the LWF signed the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic–Lutheran dialogue is a series of discussions that began during July 1964 as an outgrowth of the Second Vatican Council. The statement is an attempt to narrow the theological divide between the two faiths. The declaration also states that the mutual condemnations between 16th-century Catholic church and Lutheranism no longer apply. A similar event took place in Lund Cathedral on 31 October 2016, the 499th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, with the signing of the Statement on the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation with Pope Francis and Bishop Munib Younan in a special Catholic-Lutheran dialogue . [2] [3]
119 of the 145 member churches (80%) ordain women as ministers. [4]
The LWF was founded at Lund, Sweden, in 1947. Based in Geneva, Switzerland, it replaced the more informal Lutheran World Convention, which had been founded in 1924. The goal was to coordinate international activities of the many Lutheran churches, to provide a forum for discussions on theological and organizational issues, and to assist in philanthropy, missionary activity, and exchange of students and professors. A key leader was Executive Secretary Sylvester C. Michelfelder (1889–1951), representing the American Lutheran Church. He had been a leader in organizing $45 million in American help for the rebuilding of Protestant churches in Germany after 1945. By the time of his death in 1951, the federation represented 52 churches in 25 countries. [5]
The 20 largest member churches are (with number of members in millions; 2021 statistics):
The President is the federation's chief official representative and spokesperson. The president presides at meetings of the Assembly, Council and Meeting of Officers, and oversees the life and work of the federation in consultation with the General Secretary. [22]
The Lutheran World Federation Council elects the General Secretary for a seven-year term. The person appointed is eligible for re-election. The General Secretary conducts the business of the federation assisted by the Communion Office Leadership Team, comprising department and unit heads appointed by the council, and carries out the decisions of the Assembly and Council. [23] On 19 June 2021, the LWF Council elected Estonian theologian Anne Burghardt as the next General Secretary. She is the first woman to serve in this role and assumed office on 1 November of that year. [24]
No. | Name | Term | Nationality |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Sylvester Michelfelder (1889–1951) | 1947–1951 | United States |
2 | Carl Lund-Quist (1908–1965) | 1951–1960 | United States |
3 | Kurt Schmidt-Clausen (1920–1993) | 1960–1965 | Germany |
4 | André Appel (1921–2007) | 1965–1974 | France |
5 | Carl Henning Mau Jr. (1922–1995) | 1974–1985 | United States |
6 | Gunnar Stålsett (born 1935) | 1985–1994 | Norway |
7 | Ishmael Noko (born 1943) | 1994–2010 | Zimbabwe |
8 | Martin Junge (born 1961) | 2010–2021 | Chile |
9 | Anne Burghardt (born 1975) | 2021- | Estonia |
This map shows the global distribution of Lutheranism based on The LWF 2019 membership data. [25] [lower-alpha 1]
Sorted by country in alphabetical order
Some member denominations have recognized same-sex unions through marriage, a blessing rite, or special prayers. These include the Church of Denmark, Church of Iceland, Church of Norway, Church of Sweden, Protestant Church A.B. in Austria, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Chile, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Geneva, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Italy, a majority of the churches within the Protestant Church in Germany, Evangelical Church of the River Plate, Protestant Church in the Netherlands, and the United Protestant Church of France. [26]
On the other side, several churches, including the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, the Malagasy Lutheran Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lithuania, which recognize marriage as solely the union between a man and a woman, have broken ties with many of the churches supporting same-sex unions. [27]
The Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil supports civil same-sex marriage, but does not allow its ministers to celebrate same-sex unions, neither does it ordain ministers who are living in same-sex unions. [28]
The International Lutheran Council (ILC) is a worldwide association of confessional Lutheran denominations. Member bodies of the ILC hold "an unconditional commitment to the Holy Scriptures as the inspired and infallible Word of God and to the Lutheran Confessions contained in the Book of Concord as the true and faithful exposition of the Word of God." The member church bodies are not required to be in church-fellowship with one another, though many of them are.
The Japan Lutheran Church or NRK is a confessional Lutheran denomination in Japan. It currently has approximately 766 baptized members in 35 congregations nationwide.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania is the federation of Lutheran churches in Tanzania and one of the largest Lutheran denominations in the world, with more than 6 million members, or 13% of the Tanzanian population. It is the second largest Lutheran church in the world and the largest Lutheran church in East Africa.
Confessional Lutheranism is a name used by Lutherans to designate those who believe in the doctrines taught in the Book of Concord of 1580 in their entirety. Confessional Lutherans maintain that faithfulness to the Book of Concord, which is a summary of the teachings found in Scripture, requires attention to how that faith is actually being preached, taught, and put into practice. Confessional Lutherans believe that this is a vital part of their identity as Lutherans.
The Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church is a confessional Lutheran church body of Germany. It is a member of the European Lutheran Conference and of the International Lutheran Council (ILC). The SELK has about 33,000 members in 174 congregations. The seat of SELK is in Hanover.
The term Evangelical Catholic is used in Lutheranism, alongside the terms Augsburg Catholic or Augustana Catholic, with those calling themselves Evangelical Catholic Lutherans or Lutherans of Evangelical Catholic churchmanship stressing the catholicity of historic Lutheranism in liturgy, beliefs, practices, and doctrines. Evangelical Catholics teach that Lutheranism at its core "is deeply and fundamentally catholic". The majority of Evangelical Catholic Lutheran clergy and parishes are members of mainstream Lutheran denominations.
The Huria Kristen Batak Protestan is an Evangelical Lutheran church among the Batak people, generally the Toba Batak in Indonesia. This church uses an Ecumenical worship style influenced by the Dutch Reformed Church due to the influence of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia, as well as the legacy obtained from the Rhenish Missionary Society when the church was founded. With a membership of 4,133,000, it is one of the largest Protestant churches in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Its present leader is Ephorus (bishop) Robinson Butarbutar.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia is a Lutheran Protestant church in Latvia. Latvia's Lutheran heritage dates back to the Reformation. Both the Nazi and communist regimes persecuted the church harshly before religious freedom returned to Latvia in 1988. In contrast to Estonia, where state atheism reduced the once 80% Lutheran majority to barely 10% by 2011, the Latvian Lutheran church saw its membership drop to around 20% but has recovered and now includes approximately 30% of the population. The church reports having 250,000 members according to the Lutheran World Federation.
The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus is a Lutheran denomination in Ethiopia. It is the largest member church of the Lutheran World Federation. It is a Lutheran denomination with some Pentecostal influence and one Presbyterian-leaning synod, with a large Pietistic following.
Lutheranism is present on all inhabited continents with an estimated 80 million adherents, out of which 74.2 million are affiliated with the Lutheran World Federation. A major movement that first began the Reformation, it constitutes one of the largest Protestant branches claiming around 80 million out of 920 million Protestants. The Lutheran World Federation brings together the vast majority of Lutherans. Apart from it, there are also other organisations such as the International Lutheran Council and the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference, as well as multiple independent Lutheran denominations.
The Lutheran Church in Malaysia or LCM is one of four Lutheran bodies in Malaysia. It currently has 52 congregations nationwide with a total of 6,736 baptised members and is the largest entirely Lutheran body in the country. Until 2012, the body was known as the Lutheran Church in Malaysia and Singapore.
The Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe is a fellowship of over 100 Protestant churches which have signed the Leuenberg Agreement. Together they strive for realizing church communion, especially by cooperation in witness and service to the world. Prior to 2003 the CPCE was known as the "Leuenberg Church Fellowship".
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that identifies primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 1517. Lutheranism subsequently became the state religion of many parts of Northern Europe.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia or ELCM is one of the four Lutheran bodies in Malaysia. It currently has 21 congregations nationwide with a total of 3,650 members.
The Evangelical Church of the River Plate is a United, Protestant denomination with congregations in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. It is named after the Río de la Plata Basin, where the majority of its congregations are located. The IERP was affiliated with the Evangelical Church in Germany from 1934–1965, when it became independent. The church ordains women as ministers and supported civil unions and same-sex marriage. It has approximately 27,500 members.
The Lutheran Church in Korea or LCK is a confessional Lutheran denomination in the Republic of Korea and the only Lutheran denomination in South Korea. Unusual for a confessional Lutheran church, the LCK is not just a member of the confessional International Lutheran Council but also the mainline Lutheran World Federation.
Lutheranism was first introduced to Mexico in the 1850s, when German-American Lutherans began serving German immigrants in Mexico, though mission work among the non-German population in Mexico did not begin until the 1940s. Today there are five Lutheran church bodies in Mexico—the Mexican Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Synod of Mexico, the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Church—Mexico, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mexico (unaffiliated), and the Lutheran Apostolic Alliance of Mexico (unaffiliated)—and several independent congregations.
The Global Confessional & Missional Lutheran Forum is a global gathering of national and regional Lutheran churches. The forum was founded in Dallas, Texas by invitation of the North American Lutheran Church in 2015 to bring together Confessional Lutheran bodies who wish to emphasize missional discipleship as the focal point of ministry in the world. The gathering can be seen as an alternative to the more liberal Lutheran World Federation and to the more conservative International Lutheran Council and Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference.