Monday, June 27, 2011

Communique from the third Anglican–Lutheran International Commission


From ACNS-

The third Anglican–Lutheran International Commission (ALIC) held its sixth and final meeting in the holy city Jerusalem between 18 and 25 June 2011, under the leadership of the Most Reverend Fred Hiltz, Primate of Canada, and of the Reverend Dr Thomas Nyiwé, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cameroon.

The meeting was hosted by the Anglican Communion with the generous assistance of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem was chosen as the venue for this meeting at the Stuttgart Assembly of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), at which Bishop Dr Munib Younan, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, was elected President of the LWF. In his address to that Assembly, the Archbishop of Canterbury had made a plea for greater cooperation between Anglicans and Lutherans in the Middle East, and the Commission met here to learn of the hopes and cares of the two churches in Jerusalem in particular.
Bishop Suheil Dawani, the Anglican bishop, hosted an ecumenical reception for local church leaders, and the Commission was addressed by His Beatitude Theophilos III, the Greek Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Commission spent one of its sessions with Bishop Dawani and Bishop Younan.

At both this session and at the reception, members of the Commission heard of the struggles of Christians in Jerusalem and Palestine: of the strain of living a restricted life, of the lack of jobs and opportunities particularly for young people, and of lacking peace with justice for all in society, all of which lead many Christians to leave the holy land and diminish the witness of Christianity in the very places of its birth. At the same time, they heard of the dedication of the local churches to be the hands and feet of Christ: to advocate for a just peace among all, to seek good relations among all the faith communities, and to offer high quality education and health care to the whole society.

More here-

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2011/6/27/ACNS4896

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