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As the Lusitanian Catholic Apostolic Evangelical Church held its synod, World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit sent greetings on behalf of the WCC.
The synod gathered 31 May – 2 June 2018 under the theme "From Baptism to discipleship; the Church in Mission."
Discipleship brings us together, reflected Tveit in his message. "Disciples are not called to be alone," he wrote. "We are called together and we respond together."
"It is significant that the Lusitanian synod meeting takes place shortly after the feast of Pentecost, a time when we pay special attention to the gift of the Holy Spirit and its unifying power," continued Tveit.
"How to find the way the Spirit moves? We cannot claim to know the direction of the wind, and we would be wrong to trust our own knowledge in order to find the direction the Spirit is leading us," he wrote. "But the ecumenical experience has taught us that we can open our hearts to the Holy Spirit by listening to the Word of God together and learning from one another."
The need for "intentional discipleship to be assumed by the Church of Christ in its diversity of traditions" was also highlighted by the Diocesan Bishop of the Lusitanian Church, Bishop Jorge Pina Cabral, in his address to the synod.
He added that "faced with a complex set of challenges on a world scale, the churches today are called together by God for a more concrete and effective integration and intervention in solving current problems and in building new paths for humanity."
More information (in Portuguese) on the website of the Lusitanian Church
Message of the WCC general secretary in English and in Portuguese
