LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 127

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

3. Theology and Church Relations
To Formally Declare Altar and Pulpit
Fellowship with the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Kenya
RESOLUTION 3-01
Overture 3-01 (CW, p. 159)
Preamble
Kenya is an Eastern Africa country bordering the Indian
Ocean, located between Somalia and Tanzania. Slightly
more than twice the size of Nevada, Kenya has a population of about 32 million people. Nairobi, a city of 2 million,
is the capital of Kenya. Kenya became a British Crown
colony in 1920 and in 1963 became fully independent. The
official languages of Kenya are English and Swahili, with
several other languages spoken by 25 ethnic groups. The
vast majority of Kenyans are Christians.
In recent decades the people of Kenya have suffered
greatly from economic deprivation, internal strife, and from
disease that has touched the lives of all. Most seriously, the
country has experienced rising mortality rates due to
HIV/AIDS, tragically among infants in large numbers. The
infant mortality rate is estimated to be 60–70 per 1,000 live
births.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK)
traces its beginning to mission work begun in 1948 by the
Swedish Mission of Bible True Friends (SMBTF), with the
help also of other mission societies in Sweden, Finland, and
Norway, and the World Mission Prayer League. The church
was organized with an interim constitution in 1958 (revised
in 1963) and in 1965 registered with the government as an
independent church. Currently the membership of the
ELCK is estimated to be 70,000 members, with about 110
pastors and 440 congregations in the 8 provinces of Kenya.
The majority of these congregations are served by trained
laymen (evangelists) and non-trained helpers under the supervision of a pastor. The ELCK maintains two schools for
theological training, one for training pastors at Matongo
Lutheran Theological College and another for training
evangelists at Kapenguria Bible Centre.
Following contacts between representatives of the ELCK
and the LCMS in April 2000, newly elected Bishop Walter
Obare wrote to President Kieschnick with the request that
discussions be renewed. A meeting subsequently took place
in Nairobi, at which time Bishop Obare expressed the desire of his church to be in fellowship with other confessional
Lutherans throughout the world, including especially The
Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Two formal meetings
between representatives of the LCMS and the ELCK soon
took place, the first of these on November 26, 2003, at
Ufungamano House in Nairobi. Representing the LCMS
were Vice President Daniel Preus and the Rev. Ken
Greinke, Acting Africa Area Director.
A second meeting took place on January 27–28, 2004, in
St. Louis. Representing the LCMS in these discussions
were: President Gerald Kieschnick; Dr. Samuel Nafzger,
Executive Director of the CTCR; Rev. Robert Roegner, Ex127

Committee 3 Chairman Arleigh Lutz

ecutive Director of the Board for Mission Services; Dr.
Daniel Mattson, Associate Executive Director, Board for
Mission Services; and Dr. David Scaer, Professor of Theology, Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne. At this
meeting the representatives of the two churches discussed
numerous theological issues of mutual interest and concern, including the ELCK’s opposition to the ordination of
women. Also discussed was the ELCK’s membership in the
Lutheran World Federation. Bishop Obare reported that
the ELCK had joined the Lutheran World Federation in
1977. He expressly pointed out, however, that his church
does not view membership in the LWF as placing it into fellowship with other LWF churches simply by virtue of its
membership. The ELCK stands in solidarity with other
like-minded churches on this point, in their effort to be a
strong witness to Lutheran confessional doctrine (9 other
partner churches of the Synod belong to the LWF).
On the basis of these contacts and discussions, the
LCMS representatives have concluded, and reported to the
President of the Synod, that doctrinal agreement exists between the ELCK and the LCMS and that there is nothing
which would prohibit the churches from entering into altar
and pulpit fellowship with one another. In accordance with
the procedures established by the Synod and set forth in its
Bylaws, the Commission on Theology and Church Relations
unanimously adopted a resolution at its February 16–18,
2004 meeting recommending that the LCMS enter into
altar and pulpit fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Kenya.
WHEREAS, The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya
(ELCK) began as a result of mission work done by confes2004 Convention Proceedings