[Press Release] Strengthening lay leadership in the global communion

Engaging in public space ‘a calling of the church’

Visiting the LWF Communion Office on 13 May, the group took stock of the many challenges and pains of the world today – war and violence, poverty, gender injustice and an escalating climate crisis, to name a few – and the church’s role in speaking out for justice, peace and working for reconciliation.

“It is very important for the church to engage in the public space, in order to be relevant to these multifaceted challenges in the world,” said Enobong Etim Ikang of the Lutheran Church of Nigeria.  “We are in the world, and we must be solution providers,” he said.

Ingrid Monjencs of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria, continued to describe public engagement as part of “the task to fulfill as churches what is given to us as a call.”

Reflecting on the prophetic role of the church she said: “I think the church is truly prophetic when it doesn’t wait to be appreciated all along. It is prophetic when there is resistance, when you feel that it is not so easy to get through with your message.” Still, Monjencs emphasized, “We have to stand up against injustice. We have to stand up for equal rights.”

“We all need to humble ourselves, to understand that at the end of the day we are not always the correct ones, but the church should be there to stand for those who are downtrodden, and to make sure that the voice of those who are downtrodden is heard, that there is equality for those who are oppressed and to be courageous, to be open, to speak out to the authorities,” reflected Anna Godwin Kaduma of the Northeastern Evangelical Lutheran Church in South Africa.

Mark Hustedt of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America concluded: “The message of the gospel, the message of Jesus, Jesus’ work, is about inclusion, is about love. To nurture hope in our communities means to learn who we are in community with, learn the things that they are dealing with, the struggles, the aches, the pains, the complexities in our society, to learn with them, to walk with them through these struggles and to work together for collective happiness, for solidarity and to seek peace.”