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Nations often look back through their history, and these days Australian Lutherans are being asked to reconsider both the positive and negatives. Rev. John Pfitzner has written the first in a series on Aboriginal history in the February 1998 Lutheran Church of Australia national magazine, the Lutheran, entitled "Can We Be Proud of Our Past?". Rev. Pfitzner served the Aboriginal people at Hermannsburg in the Northern Territory for many years and is now a member of a special task force set up by the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA) to explore the Aboriginal issues.
Pfitzner begins by talking about every person having assumptions about history and interpretations we place on past events. He says that, "When information is brought forward that is new to us, we can have the feeling that it has been concocted and that it must be false." Some people are concerned about new information revealing mistakes which might have been made by Lutherans.
Pfitzner gave examples of new historians who have documented that, "Aboriginal people were not only dispossessed of their land without benefit of treaty, agreement or compensation, but that this dispossession was carried out often with great brutality and ruthlessness." These facts have led to a new understanding of today's Aboriginal culture.
Pfitzner then stresses that a balanced view of history is healthy; "owning" both the good and bad is necessary. Acknowledging the good and bad causes healing to occur and, "As Christians we should never be afraid to face the past fairly and squarely." Pfitzner encourages people to remember repentance and forgiveness and that God will still provide blessings out of the healing for celebration.
LCA "The Lutheran" subscriptions available fromOpenbook Publisher,
ATTN: "The Lutheran",
GPO Box 1368, Adelaide, SA 5001.
AUSTRALIAHome Page: http://www.lca.au/thelutheran.html/
| President: | Rev. Yung Tse You, Allan |
| First Vice President: | Rev. Li Yat Shing |
| Second V.P.: | Rev. Chan Yuk Sun |
| Chinese Secretary: | Rev. Hui Ming Kin |
| English Secretary: | Mr. Poon Shu Kee |
| Treasurer: | Mr. Lam Kai Hing |
| Council Member: | Rev. Shen Jian Ren |
At a special session of the General Body of the United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India (UELCI), the UELCI Constitution was amended to drop "Churches" from the name and henceforth UELCI will be known as United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India. While retaining the federal character of UELCI, the UELCI acquires a new dimension of the Church with the functions of undertaking proclamation and development, ordination of its own personnel and more importantly, to sign unity agreements with ecumenical Churches as a Lutheran Church representing the member Churches and not merely an organization.
The foundations for this direction of thinking were laid at least ten years ago and the Churches were given time all these years to absorb its implications especially the fact that the member Churches' autonomy and identity is not affected by such a move. In effect, UELCI followed the model of VELKD where VELKD is a Church and at the same time is federal in character as its many member Churches had retained their autonomy.
The basic purpose of the new UELCI is to strengthen the Lutheran identity and ecumenical relations. In fact there has been an element of urgency in taking this decision as the Lutheran-Mar Thoma dialogues have come close to agreement and the Mar Thoma Church required a Church to sign the agreement and not an organization and this clears the way now for the Lutherans to sign an agreement with the Mar Thoma Church for pulpit and altar fellowship.
In the immediate future there is urgency for UELCI to take this step. Under the leadership of the National Council of Churches in India - the major Churches, the Church of North India, the Church of South India, Mar Thoma Church, Methodist Church, the Lutheran Church and the Baptist Church will be forming a fellowship in a way that they can function as a national Church. To enter this national Church also UELCI needs this new status. To meet therefore the immediate and the distant needs of ecumenical relationships, the UELCI has taken this step. Hence the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India has all the characteristics of the Church while retaining the federal nature of UELCI.
Rev. Dr. Prasanna Kumari, Executive Secretary, United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India
In January, the third Palestinian bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan (ELCJ) was consecrated. Munib A. Younan pledged his church to be "an apostle of peace, a catalyst for justice and the accomplisher of reconciliation" in the troubled Holy Land. Lutheran bishops came from Asia, Africa, Europe and North and South America to participate in the consecration ceremony as well as representatives of the Israel government, the Palestinian National Authority and leaders of Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches. Younan said the justice of the Gospel "does not differentiate between man and woman, Jew or Palestinian, Arab or Western, slave or free."
Bishop Younan also announced that one of his goals will be "to sign a covenant of full communion" between the ELCJ and its historic partner, the Anglican Church, "no later than the year 2000." A scholar as well as an administrator and pastor, Bishop Younan translated the Augsburg Confession into Arabic in 1993.
The ELCJ was formed in 1959 when Jordan controlled the West Bank where all but one of the churches is located. The name of the church dates from that time and there is a congregation in Amman, Jordan's capital.
See also Joint Statement article
Forty-four college seniors and four Master of Divinity level pastoral training students received diplomas from Luther Seminary in Shingahl, Korea in February. The Class of '98 was the first to hold graduation ceremonies in the new chapel-auditorium completed in November, 1997. The Rev. Dorow, seminary president, addressed the graduates on "Who Am I?" reminding them that no matter what challenges they may meet in life, they will always be God's children redeemed by Christ. 25 of the 44 graduates have been accepted into graduate schools.
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In March 1998, Luther Theological University (LTU) with its new name, began its first semester of the new academic year. Over 100 students took tests for the fifty first-year slots allotted by the Korean Ministry of Education. Full enrollment is expected even amidst economic difficulties in Korea. LTU offers scholarship and work-aid grants to about 25% of its students.
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In December, 1997, the Ruteru Gakuin Board of Trustees, elected Dr. Yoshikazu Tokuzen to be President of the Japan Lutheran Theological Seminary in Mitaka, Tokyo. The Ruteru Gakuin Board of Trustees is the highest decision making body for both the Seminary and the Japan Lutheran College.
Tokuzen assumes the position on April 1, 1998 and his term extends through the end of March, 2002. He said, "I want to emphasize four different ministry areas: personal, spiritual, academic, and professional."
"To increase the students' individual experiences is especially important, I think, to share growth and deepen relationships with each other. There are many places for students to do this, working among disabled groups, participating in various Lutheran World Federation programs, or among the four different Lutheran church bodies' activities throughout Japan." The traditional method of teachers teaching and students listening needs to include personal growth with God and full experiences in churches, Tokuzen said. 
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