Bishop Hanson Opens 2004 Lutheran World Federation Council

By Pauline J. Chang, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, September 01, 2004

The 2004 Lutheran World Federation Council opened on September 1, 2004, with a keynote address from the Council’s Presiding Bishop Mark S. Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The weeklong Council, set to end on September 7, gathered more than 170 Lutheran leaders, staff and reporters from around the world to Geneva Switzerland.

Throughout his speech, Hanson called on the 66 million Lutherans around the world to “grow together rather than apart as we are defined by our faith, not our fears,” in following this year’s Council theme: “Growing Together, Growing Apart.”

Hanson mentioned several challenges to unity that come from the “political, social, inter-religious and ecological sphere.” Nonetheless, Hanson said Lutherans should work to set aside differences and grow together.