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From November 29 through December 3, 1999, Asian Church leaders, members of the Asia Regional Coordination Committee (ARCC) and the Advisory Committee on Theological Education in Asia (ACTEAS), LWF Council members and advisors, youth delegates, women delegates, a representative from Lutheran World Service, Mission partners and LWF staff gathered in Chennai India for the Asian Church Leadership Conference. About 68 representatives came together to reflect upon and discuss the theme, "Mission in Asia for the 21st Century." Through plenary presentations, various reports, small group discussions, worship sessions and Bible studies, this theme was explored.
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One of the objectives of the Asian Church Leadership Conference is to provide a forum for Church leadership to discuss the vision and mission of the churches in Asia and to follow-up on resolutions and recommendations of the LWF Council. A forum has been provided to allow for the sharing of resources, experiences and skills in witnessing to the Gospel.
Excerpts from a "Message from the Conference to the Churches."
Dear brothers and sisters,
Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We, as churches in Asia, came together to strengthen our fellowship with each other, to share our unique experiences in Christ for mutual spiritual enrichment, to analyze the challenges the churches in Asia now face and to renew our commitment to the Mission of Christ: to proclaim God's message through our lives, witness and service.
We came together, with our diverse cultures, ecclesiastic traditions, racial and linguistic differences. It is these diversities that make the church in Asia colorful and our spiritual experiences so rich and unique. The Christian community in Asia lives and witnesses among diverse religions. The churches' presence amidst these religions poses a special challenge. This offers a unique opportunity to the churches in Asia to interact, dialogue, challenge each other and to take initiatives to work with God and to create and enrich life for all by restoring God's assured justice, dignity and fuller life for all.
We confess that we as churches in Asia, for too long, have failed in our God given opportunity to be an effective instrument in God's mission for witness and service. We were too busy with our own internal affairs to the extent of forgetting to be a good neighbor to our needy brothers and sisters outside our churches.
Despite our trust in the doctrine of "the Priesthood of all believers" and a commitment to renew and empower every member of our congregation, we Asian Lutheran churches confess the sin of discrimination of people and of communities in the name of gender, age and race.
We pray that the Lord may renew empower and activate every member, in every congregation, in every church to be a prophetic voice, proclaiming the good news of God to the poor, both spiritual and economic. We commit ourselves to enable every member to be a missionary and to impact the lives of other people to enjoy a fuller life. In this great, solemn mission we use ecclesiastic tools of worship, nurture, proclamation and development, at the local and the national level. Women and men, young and elderly, lay and clergy all have equal responsibility in God's mission.
Just before the dawn of the new millennium, we call on our churches to renew their vision for God's mission, to be coworkers with God and with their ecumenical partners to usher in the Kingdom of God. This is our mandate for the millennium. To that effect we commit ourselves.
| Resolutions | Closed Session minutes |
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| Mission | Human Resources |
Youth | Gender | Theological Education |
Communications | |
| Next Article:Asian Church Leader's Conference Asia Region Coordinating Committee |
