LWF Council 2018 opens with joyful worship

28 June 2018

LWF/OCS

Cheryl Philip, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, presents the liturgy at the opening worship of the LWF Council 2018. Photo: LWF/Albin Hillert

“Our energy… comes from the gifts we have freely received”

(LWI) - A warm and joyful Eucharist service marked the opening of the Lutheran World Federation 2018 Council meeting this morning. 48 Council members from LWF member churches, advisors, consultants and ecumenical guests take part in the meeting which gathers under the theme “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8, NIV).

The opening service was led by Council member Cheryl Philip, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Rev. Yonas Yigezu Dibisi, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Mekane Yesus, Ethiopia, preached on Matthew 10:2-8, and Rev. Karla Steilmann, Evangelical Church of the River Plate, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, officiated at the Eucharist.

The meeting of the Council is held in the Ecumenical Centre in the Geneva and the chapel hosted the opening worship of the Council.

The opening worship was a joyful occasion with participants from churches in the seven regions of the LWF.

Rev. Yonas Yigezu Dibisi, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Mekane Yesus, Ethiopia, preached at the opening worship of Council 2018.

In his sermon on the Council theme, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8), Rev. Yonas Yigezu Dibisi, of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Mekane Yesus, Ethiopia, said the text lays out what it means to be disciples of Jesus Christ and what it means to be church.

He told the Council that as ministers of God’s kingdom, they are sent into a broken world. “It is to this very world that the church is sent. In fact, it is to these challenges that this council itself is commissioned.”

“Our motivation, our energy and our dedication come from the recognition of the gifts we have freely and abundantly received,” he said.

Worshippers offering one another words of peace during the opening worship of the LWF Council 2018.

Rev. Karla Steilmann, Evangelical Church of the River Plate, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, officiated at the Eucharist.

The 2018 LWF Council meeting takes place in Geneva from 27 June - 2 July. The theme of the Council is “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8, NIV). The LWF Council meets yearly and is the highest authority of the LWF between assemblies. It consists of the President, the Chairperson of the Finance Committee, and 48 members from LWF member churches in seven regions.