Dear presiding pastora Silvia Beatrice Genz, dear leaders and delegates of IECLB, dear observers and guests.
Greetings from the Church of Norway, and especially on behalf of our presiding bishop Olav Fykse Tveit, who was not able to come. Thank you for the invitation and this possibillity to share.
The renewed Agreement between our two churches «Communion in Faith, Life and Witness» was signed by our leaders earlier this year. Among other things it says:
-Pray for each other
-Share experiences, gifts and concerns…
For you, this 33rd Churchwide Assembly is in the midst of your General Elections in Brazil. It is indeed exciting times. And a lot at stake. Hopefully the new leadership will stand up for human dignity and justice for all in the years to come. And for the protection of the Creation and especially the Amazon rainforest*. We pray for that.
For us in Church of Norway, we are of course worried about the war our neighbour Russia and President Putin has started in Ukraine, with so many casulties, victims, worries. Concerns also partly in Norway. We share border with Russia in the North. What will the next chapter be?
Blessed are the peacemakers… for they will be called children of God”!
Please join us to pray and journey for peace in Europe!
As a quite young ordained pastor -almost 30 years ago - I visited Fe y Esperanza, our lutheran sister Church in Nicaragua. And from pastor Ilo Utech, with roots from IECLB, and his wife Obispa Victoria Cortèz I got this colouful stola, wowen by a women from the indigenous maya-people.
Tu es no solo visitando pero tambien un pastor in nuestra Iglesia de Fe y Espedanza - para siempre, obispa Victoria dicenda.
I think this example could offer a deeper meaning also regarding our two churches. We are pastors, deacons, members of each other churches. Through our common baptism we belong to the ONE body, with Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church.
On behalf of the Church of Norway, I wish you Gods blessing for this Assembly, and for the years to come. Lets continue to pray for each other!
Hopefully we can strenghten our joint resources on the journey of beeing diciples of Christ, in a pilgrimage of justice, peace, unity and care for Gods creation.
Muito obrigado!
• Church of Norway https://kirken.no/nb-NO/church-of-norway/ has been involved in www.interfaithrainforest.org from the beginning in 2017
