News
As the council of the Lutheran World Federation met on 12 June, World Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit shared greetings and appreciation.
“You are representing churches that are in communion with one another because you are sharing the Gospel and the sacraments. This is a reality “Because We Know God’s Voice”. It is the shared legacy of being Lutheran churches that we believe that our salvation and our calling, our identity and our relationships are all given to us in the living Word of God.”
Tveit added “ This is profoundly expressed as “God’s voice” in the theme for your meeting. This is the promise of Pentecost; that the Spirit will make us able to hear, to understand, to believe, and to act together.”
“There are many loud voices today; some are dividing, degrading, defaming, discriminating, disoriented, misinforming, disillusioned, and even destructive,” Tveit said. “The truth that we owe each other is what we have received from God.”
We are called to respond to God’s voice, Tveit continued. “We are called to respond with one another,” he said. “We are called to respond so that particularly those who desperately need our response, can hear God’s voice of salvation, of justice and peace – through us.”
We are mutually accountable to one another for how we respond to God’s voice, Tveit said. “This is to be heard in what we say and particularly in what we do,” he said. “This is the ecumenical call.”
Read the full text of the WCC general secretary greetings the LWF Council
Learn more about LWF Council meeting
