Lutherans seek to strengthen church role in social services

A global Lutheran consultation on diakonia (church social services) will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 13-17 October 2008, hosted by the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, reports Lutheran World Information.

An estimated 60 participants, including mainly people responsible for diakonia work among Lutheran World Federation member churches and their partners, will attend the consultation, organised by the LWF Department for Mission and Development.

Through plenary presentations and group work, the participants will elaborate a comprehensive and sustained understanding of diakonia as a faith-based action of the church reflecting both the self-understanding of LWF as a Lutheran communion and the diaconal challenges in today's globalised world.

Those present will also seek to define ways in which the LWF can strengthen the basis for diaconal praxis in the member churches, recognising resources within the churches and the central role the churches play in acting for change in society.

The consultation is one of DMD's efforts to implement a recommendation of the 2003 LWF Tenth Assembly in Winnipeg, Canada, calling for the prioritisation of diakonia. Prior to the last assembly, a global consultation on "prophetic diakonia" in Johannesburg, South Africa, in November 2002 had established a solid platform for the present program, identifying diakonia as "a core component of the gospel" and an "essential part of discipleship."

It underlined the challenges of poverty, violence and HIV and AIDS as the three major issues that today challenge churches to move into more prophetic expressions of their role as key actors in civil society.

"All over the world churches are involved in diaconal work, even if the term 'diakonia' is not used. The advantage of this concept is that it establishes a solid bond between what we as Christians are and what we do, between our identity and our service in the
world. The consultation in Ethiopia provides an excellent opportunity to relate this understanding to concrete experiences in different parts of the world, and to the challenges in what some describe as 'post-secular society'," says DMD director, Rev
Dr Kjell Nordstokke.

Participants in next week's meeting will seek to respond to questions on the relationship between diakonia and missionary outreach. Other issues include: Can diaconal work be religious neutral? Does diakonia give added values to the church's
emergency and development work? What is the distinction between the role of agencies/specialised ministries and that of the local church/congregation in diaconal work? How is "prophetic diakonia" as elaborated by the Johannesburg consultation performed, for instance in relation to the principles "transformation, reconciliation, and empowerment" which form the core of a defining LWF mission document?

Nordstokke points out that this 2004 LWF document "Mission in Context: Transformation, Reconciliation, Empowerment: An LWF Contribution to the Understanding and Practice of Mission" presents a holistic understanding of mission, encompassing proclamation, service and advocacy.

He notes, however, that the document formulates the vision but does not broaden reflection on the different forms of diaconal work, thus the need for follow-up
processes such as the consultation next week in order to deal with pertinent issues.

Through DMD's program "Understanding Diakonia and Its Guiding Principles" started two years ago, regional and sub-regional consultations have taken place in order to collect input from different contexts on the understanding and practice of diakonia,
Nordstokke explains.

"These are some of the efforts that the global consultation in Addis Ababa will discuss with the aim to present a common and well-reflected position on the understanding of diakonia and its guiding principles, for the benefit of LWF and its member churches," he adds.