A Strong Message

Youth delegate appreciates result of youth pre-assembly

His first experience with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) he sees as really encouraging. Sem Loggen was sent as a youth delegate from the Protestant Church in the Netherlands to the Namibian capital of Windhoek to take part in the Twelfth Assembly of the LWF from May 10 to 16.

Regarding the message crafted by the youth delegates from all over the world in their Pre-Assembly, Loggen said, “I am convinced that the message we bring to the Assembly will have a strong impact.”

On the first day of the Assembly, the youth delegates presented the result of their discussions to the other delegates.

Loggen, who himself was a member of the drafting committee, said he was very happy with the outcome: “We have ensured that the proposals of all the youth delegates are reflected in one way or another in the final document of the Pre-Assembly,” Loggen explained.

“We had an open discussion, in which sensitive points such as the ordination of women were raised,” Loggen said.

The 20-year-old delegate is in his first term studying international relations and organisations at the University of Leiden. As his focal issues he points out gender justice and equality of all.

He believes his opinions align with many other youth delegates. But the role of women and men may be seen differently in some Lutheran churches, he continued.

While all may find their views reflected in the three overall messages of the Pre-Assembly, the themes will be enacted differently in member churches.

“We would like the churches to start thinking about the role of women and men in their own contexts,” Loggen explained.

He is convinced that the message of the youth delegates is also good for the future. “It must be valid for the next seven years,” Loggen said.

At the end of the Pre-Assembly it became clear that the renewal of the church is the first priority of the youth delegates. Second is the demand for equity, including human dignity and human rights. Third is the issue of universal education.

LWF/Rainer Lang