DONATE
International Lutheran Council (ILC)

News

Ghana’s Lutherans Reelect President

by | Mar 25, 2021

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana’s 2021 National Delegates Conference.

GHANA – From March 19-21, 2021, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana (ELCG) held its National Delegates Conference in Bawku in Ghana’s Upper East Region. During that time, the church reelected Rev. John Shadrack Donkoh to a second term as president of the ELCG.

The election saw President Donkoh receive 98 percent of the vote. President Donkoh was first elected president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ghana in 2018.

ELCG President John Donkoh (second from right) with other participants in the 2021 National Delegates Conference.

Also reelected during the 2021 National Delegates Conference were Rev. Dr. Ebenezer Boafo as 1st Vice President, Alex Lanbon as 2nd Vice President, and Kwame Poku-Boah as 3rd Vice President.

The conference also saw the church receive nine preaching stations into membership as full congregations. In addition, two congregations which had separated from the ELCG were welcomed back into membership.

———————

Philippines: Church Planting in a Pandemic

by | Mar 23, 2021

LCP President Antonio Reyes speaks to children at COVID Lutheran Church.

PHILIPPINES – When pandemic restrictions hit the Philippines, Lutheran Church in the Philippines (LCP) President Antonio Reyes and his wife Arlene were caught in Tiaong, Quezon Province—a small town about 100 kms away from the LCP’s main office in Manila. So he did what anyone would do: begin mission work.

Of course, that wasn’t the plan from the beginning. President Reyes had been visiting a property recently acquired by the LCP when the quarantine was instituted. Unable to return to Manila, he organized a local food-distribution ministry, providing free rice to informal settlers living along the Philippine National Railway who were unable to work as a result of pandemic regulations. What began as a service to 12 families would eventually grow to reach 40 families.

That practical assistance led in time to Bible studies with local people, and eventually to regular worship services. Today, the LCP has a new mission congregation in the area with a unique name: “COVID Lutheran Church,” with “COVID” standing for “Christ Our Victorious Infinite Deliverer”—a deliberate reminder that God can use even the most difficult circumstances for good.

Worship at COVID Lutheran Church in the Philippines.

“Despite having to face the negative effects of the pandemic, we thank God for His grace and His mercy,” President Reyes says of the situation in the Philippines. “Even in these times, the Church prevails.”

Today, the LCP continues to provide rice to those in need, as funds are available. And the pandemic—which has resulted in job losses as well as an increase in the price of basic food commodities—has left many in need.

The Lutheran Church in the Philippines is a member of the International Lutheran Council, a global association of confessional Lutheran church bodies.

———————

No major damage after volcano eruption in Nicaragua

by | Mar 12, 2021

San Cristobal Volcano erupts. (Photo: ILSN Dcn. Mayra Lara)

NICARAGUA – An eruption at Nicaragua’s San Cristobal Volcano on March 9, 2021 showered the nearby area, including the city of Chinandega, in ash but otherwise caused no major damage.

Following the eruption, Nicaragua’s National System for the Prevention, Mitigation, and Attention of Disasters encouraged locals to remain calm but stay two kilometres from the crater of the volcano. San Cristobal is Nicaragua’s largest volcano and is considered moderately active.

The Lutheran Church Synod of Nicaragua (Iglesia Luterana Sínodo de Nicaragua – ILSN) is headquartered in Chinandega, and Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC) has a mission centre in the city. ILSN President Marvin Donaire confirms that people in the area are doing fine despite a bit of ash in the air, and that they are grateful the eruption proved to be minor. Staff at LCC’s mission centre also write that the volcano has returned to its normal state.

Ash falls in Chinandega. (Photo: ILSN Rev.Luis Turcios)

Rev. Mark Smith, Lutheran Church–Canada’s Missions Executive, expressed thanks that the situation in Chinandega seems to have returned to normal. He also encouraged Lutherans around the world to remember their Nicaraguan brothers and sisters in prayer:

Almighty God, whose loving care is everlasting, with relieved hearts we are grateful that the latest volcano eruption of San Cristobal in Nicaragua wasn’t as severe as first feared. We implore You to continue to watch over and protect Your people in Nicaragua, especially those faced with dangerous ash and debris in the air. We also pray that You strengthen the faith of Your Church through Your Life-giving Word that she may bring comfort and aid to those in need; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lutheran Church Synod of Nicaragua and Lutheran Church–Canada are both members of the International Lutheran Council.

———————

 

 

South African Lutheran bishop passes on to glory

by | Mar 11, 2021

CLCSA Bishop Mandla Khumalo

SOUTH AFRICA – Bishop Mandla John Khumalo of the Confessional Lutheran Church in South Africa (CLCSA) passed away on March 1, 2021 after a brief illness. He was sixty years old.

A funeral service for Bishop Khumalo was held on March 6, conducted by Bishop Emeritus David Tswaedi of the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa.

“At some point, we will depart this world,” Bishop Khumalo wrote in a reflection on Facebook a few months ago. “I pray that, when I depart from this world, I should do so having served my God, my people to the best of my ability.”

“We are saddened to hear about the loss of Pastor Mandla yet find comfort in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ,” said Rev. Dr. Timothy Quill, General Secretary of the International Lutheran Council, in a letter of condolence. “The CLCSA will miss the remarkable leadership of Bishop Mandla, yet we give thanks to God for the blessings our Lord has bestowed on so many through his faithful witness.”

Bishop Mandla Khumalo

Prior to becoming a pastor, Bishop Khumalo was a rebel in South Africa against apartheid. “When the police were looking to arrest those people, I was one of those people they were looking for,” Bishop Khumalo explained in an interview with the Michigan District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. While attempting to flee the country, he and his companions sheltered in a church. “The pastor one night invited us to a revival crusade,” he explained. “We really did not want to go. But as a courtesy to this pastor, we decided we would attend this service.”

The proclamation of Law and Gospel that night led to Bishop Khumalo’s conversion. He returned to his hometown of Middleburg and presented himself to police, explaining that his faith in Christ had led him to turn himself in. The authorities instead let him go free.

Bishop Khumalo began sharing the Gospel in his home community, which led eventually to the establishment of a congregation. He graduated from the South African School of Theology in 1981.

Over time, Bishop Khumalo made connections with members of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), through whom he came into contact with Lutheran theology. He eventually was accepted into Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he began studies in 1988. The congregation back in Middleburg subsequently also became Lutheran.

Today the church body which grew out of Bishop Khumalo’s missionary work now counts more than 22,000 members throughout South Africa.

In 2018, Bishop Khumalo led the Confessional Lutheran Church in South Africa into observer membership in the International Lutheran Council (ILC). He further represented his church in recent unity talks between the CLCSA and the ILC’s two other member churches in South Africa: the Free Evangelical Lutheran Synod in South Africa (FELSISA) and the Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (LCSA).

———————

ILC to postpone World Conference until 2022

by | Jan 29, 2021

Participants in the ILC’s January 18, 2021 online board meeting.

ONLINE – The Board of Directors for the International Lutheran Council met online on January 18, 2021 for regularly scheduled meetings. During this time, the board decided to postpone the upcoming ILC World Conference—which had been tentatively scheduled for September 2021—until 2022.

The decision comes in response to current challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The board considered the possibility of holding the conference online, but recognized disparities in internet access across the world could limit the ability of some members to participate in the conference fully.

The board continues to discuss what impact the delay may mean for other planned events, including the ILC’s 2022 World Seminaries Conference.

The January meeting also saw the board discuss new membership applications to the ILC, emergency relief programming, and international Lutheran theological education.

———————

ILC calls new Assistant to the General Secretary

by | Jan 28, 2021

Rev. Roger James

WORLD – The International Lutheran Council (ILC) has announced Rev. Roger B. James will serve as its new Assistant to the General Secretary.

“It’s a pleasure to be joining the International Lutheran Council,” said Rev. James. “The ILC plays a vital role supporting the mission and ministry of confessional Lutherans worldwide, and I look forward to assisting in that work.”

Rev. James will be installed on January 31, 2021 in a service at New Hope Lutheran Church in Ossian, Indiana (USA), with Rev. Dr. Timothy Quill, General Secretary of the ILC, preaching. Rev. James will officially begin service with the ILC on February 1.

“It’s with great joy that I welcome Roger to the International Lutheran Council,” said Rev. Dr. Timothy Quill, General Secretary. “He brings a wealth of international experience with him, especially in Asia, which will be of great service to the ILC. May God bless our work together on behalf of Lutherans around the world.”

Rev. James and his wife Amy served as missionaries in Asia for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS) from 2012-2020. While living and working in Sri Lanka, Rev. James served as the LCMS’ South Asia Area Director, regularly traveling also to India and Bangladesh.

The past few years he has spent serving as a theological educator at the Lutheran Church in Philippines’s (LCP) Lutheran Theological Seminary and Training Center in Baguio City. Prior to his work as a missionary, Rev. James spent twenty years in pastoral ministry in Michigan and Minnesota in the United States.

Rev. James holds a Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary (St. Louis, Missouri) and a Master of Sacred Theology from Concordia Theological Seminary (Fort Wayne, Indiana).

The ILC’s Board of Directors issued a call to Rev. James in November 2020.

———————

Finnish Lutherans Elect New Bishop

by | Jan 25, 2021

ELMDF Bishop Elect Juhana Pohjola.

FINLAND – The Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland (Suomen evankelisluterilainen lähetyshiippakunta -ELMDF) has elected Diocesan Dean Juhana Pohjola to serve as its new bishop.  The election was announced during the ELMDF’s Diocesan Assembly on January 23, 2021.

“I wish to express my gratitude for the great confidence you have shown in me by giving me such strong support and by electing me for this important and demanding task,” said Rev. Dr. Pohjola in a speech after the election. “I feel great weakness faced with such a great task and calling but I know that the matter has been discussed in the congregations, and that many prayers and intercessions have been said for the matter, which encourages me to look forward to this.”

In total, Dr. Pohjola received 111 votes (90.2 percent) through advance voting, while candidate Rev. Esko Murto received 12 votes. A total of 95 percent of potential delegates voted in the election.

Dr. Pohjola’s consecration as bishop is planned for August 1, 2021 at the ELMDF’s Mission Diocese Summer Festival in Loimaa, Finland. He will be the third bishop in the history of Finland’s Luther Foundation, and the second for the ELMDF itself. Dr. Pohjola will succeed Bishop Risto Soramies, who has served as Bishop from 2013-2021. Matti Väisänen served as the first Finnish Bishop of the Mission Province of Sweden and Finland from 2010 until the emergence of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland in 2013.

Dr. Pohjola has served as Diocesan Dean of the ELMDF from 2013 until the present, and as dean of its supporting trust, Luther Foundation Finland (LFF), from 2000-2001 and 2012 to the present. He previously served as head pastor of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Helsinki from 2000-2010, and as a visiting scholar at Concordia Lutheran Theological Seminary (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada) from 2011-2012. He holds a Master of Theology degree from the University of Helsinki (1997), a Master of Sacred Theology degree from Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana (1998), and a Doctorate of Theology from the University of Helsinki (2014).

Dean Pohjola was ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland’s (ELCF) Diocese of Oulu in 1999 in order to serve the then newly founded Luther Foundation Finland. In 2004, the LFF broke fellowship with the ELCF over doctrinal differences. The LFF found itself shunned by the ELCF but the unexpected publicity led to rapid growth in the LFF. Dean Pohjola was eventually defrocked by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland in 2014 after the founding of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland.

The ELMDF and Dean Juhana Pohjola drew international attention in 2020 when Finnish police began investigating them for the 2004 publication of a booklet which defended historic Christian teaching on human sexuality. The booklet, which was written by a Finnish Member of Parliament, was published well before the 2017 legalization of same-sex marriage in Finland. Dean Pohjola was interrogated for five hours as part of an ongoing investigation which has sparked international concern over the state of religious freedom in Finland.

The Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland is a member of the International Lutheran Council, a global association of confessional Lutheran church bodies worldwide.

———————

Adapted from an ELMDF news release. For more information, see the ELMDF’s report here.

Former Kenyan bishop enters into glory

by | Dec 11, 2020

Rt. Rev. Francis Nyamwaro Onderi

KENYA – The Rt. Rev. Francis Nyamwaro Onderi, former Chairman and Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK), entered into glory on November 17, 2020.

In 1996, Rev. Nyamwaro was installed as the first bishop of the ELCK, following a decision of the church a year prior to transition to an episcopal structure. Prior to that transition, he also served as the church’s last chairman. Rev. Nyamwaro would continue to serve as bishop until his retirement.

In a post announcing his death, the ELCK highlighted some of his accomplishments as head of the church body. “It was during his watch that the Lutheran Church grew, and reached all the then-nine provinces of the Republic of Kenya,” the church notes, including work among Somali refugees in the north-east of the country. The church also praised his work among the Borana in Marsabit and the Digo in Kwale, as well as new outreach to the Kalenjin, the Masai, Sumburu, Kamba, Kikuyu, Meru, and Embu. Work in traditionally strong Lutheran areas, like Kisii, Luoland, and amongst the Pokot, also expanded during this period.

“He was first of all a pastor and servant of God, and should be honoured as such,” the church writes.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya is a member of the International Lutheran Council (ILC), a global association of confessional Lutheran church bodies.

———————

French Lutherans elect new president

by | Dec 8, 2020

EELSF President Gleisson R. Schmidt

FRANCE – The Evangelical Lutheran Church – Synod of France (Église Évangélique Luthérienne–Synode de France – EELSF) has elected Rev. Dr. Gleisson R. Schmidt of Paris to a four-year term as president.

Originally scheduled for April 2020, the EELSF’s Synodical Convention had to be postponed as a result of coronavirus restrictions. A condensed version of the convention was ultimately held electronically on November 15.

President Schmidt succeeds Rev. Martin Jautzy, who did not stand for reelection to a second term. Born in Erechim, Brazil, President Schmidt studied theology at Concordia Institute of São Paulo, and served congregations in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (Igreja Evangélica Luterana do Brasil – IELB) from 2002-2018. Alongside his pastoring work, he also served as a professor of philosophy at Brazil’s Federal University of Technology – Paraná. In 2014, he earned his doctorate from the Federal University of Santa Catarina.

Rev. Schmidt often spent extended periods in Paris where he participated in the congregational life of St. Sauveur Evangelical Lutheran Church. He accepted a call to the congregation in 2018.

The International Lutheran Council’s (ILC) Chairman, Bishop Hans-Jörg Voigt of Germany’s Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church, sent congratulations to President Schmidt on his election. “I want to congratulate you and extend to you my wishes for God’s grace and blessing upon your election and installation into the office of President and Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church – Synod of France,” Chairman Voigt wrote. “We pray that our Lord and Saviour keep and guide you during these challenging times.”

The convention also saw the election of three other members to the EEL-SF’s board alongside President Schmidt, including Rev. Philippe Volff (Strasbourg) as Vice-President; Noëlle Boisnault (Châtenay-Malabry) as Secretary; and Béatrice Grimaldi (Châtenay-Malabry) as Treasurer.

Other business of the convention included the election of auxiliary members to assist the board, the election of members of the church’s Committee of Theological Studies, and the presentation of several reports.

———————

News

Signup for ILC Updates