FINLAND – On February 5, the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland (Suomen evankelisluterilainen Lähetyshiippakunta – ELMDF) hosted a meeting of bishops from the Communion of Nordic Lutheran Dioceses.
Participating in the meetings were Bishop Thor Henrik With of the Evangelical-Lutheran Diocese in Norway (Det evangelisk-lutherske stift i Norge – DELSIN); Bishop Bengt Ådahl of the Mission Province in Sweden (Missionsprovinsen i Sverige – MPS); and ELMDF Bishop Juhana Pohjola, as well as his predecessors Bishop Emeritus Risto Soramies and Bishop Emeritus Maati Väisänen.
Also participating in the meetings were the ELMDF’s Diocesan Dean Joel Kerosuo and Rev. David Preus, Regional Director for Eurasia for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS).
“Gatherings like these are an important way to keep each other apprised of current events in our church bodies and to pray for each other and express the unity we have in shared confession,” said ELMDF Bishop Pohjola. “May God continue to strengthen our ties as we bear witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this part of the world.”
Among other business, Bishop Pohjola noted, the meeting saw the church leaders discuss the office of bishop in the light of their churches’ shared Lutheran confession, as well as how the extra-congregational ministry of oversight is all about the Word and Sacrament ministry—sending men through ordination to serve at the pulpits and altars of local congregations, and to shepherd by visitation those who already serve. Discussion also noted how the office has sometimes become a cause of division in the Church for the sake of personal ambition or tolerance of false doctrine. It is important that bishops—through the office entrusted to them—support the common mission and unity of the Church across national borders, remaining faithful to the words of the OverShepherd.
The ELMDF, DELSIN, MP, and LCMS are all member churches of the International Lutheran Council (ILC), a global association of Lutheran church bodies and groups, dedicated to proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the basis of a shared commitment to the authority of Scripture and the Lutheran Confessions.
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