The LUCSA Communion Office conducted a consultation workshop for member churches General Secretaries and Executive Secretaries. The consultation was held from 27 -30 April 2021 at Outlook Lodge, Johannesburg, South Africa.

The purpose of the consultation was:

• to strengthen the cooperation, networking and learning environment within and between LUCSA member churches.
• to empower member churches to explore potential investment opportunities in the post Covid-19 era.
• to enable LUCSA members to build up and share expertise in the field of local resource mobilisation and church investments.

The consultation was attended by the following member churches; ELCB(Botswana),ELCM (Malawi), ELCRN(Namibia), IELM(Mozambique,)  ELCSA-Western Diocese (South Africa), ELCSA-South Eastern Diocese (South Africa), ELCZa (Zambia), LECA(Zambia), ELCZ (Zimbabwe) and the LUCSA Communion Office staff.

The consultation was officially opened by the new LUCSA Executive Director Rev Lilana Kasper. The Executive Director welcomed participants and thanked them for honouring the invitation. In her opening speech the Director lifted up sustainability of the Churches in the region as a key focus area for participants. She also encouraged participants to analyse the topic in a wider context, dealing with collective sustainability as well as individually sustainable lifestyles. The Director acknowledged the challenges Churches are a facing due to COVID-19 since 2020 and how difficult it is to do the daily administrative work of the Church and also carry out ministry and pastoral care. She encouraged participants to use this platform to share ideas, challenges and best practices in order to build a strong network in the sub-region.

The consultation focused on key areas that included: the response of the Church to COVID-19 challenges, long and short-term opportunities for church sustainability and how the administration of the Church can be advanced in this era. Presentations in this regard were facilitated by experts from the Old Mutual Company, Heartlines as well as Rev. Dr. Philip Knutson (LUCSA Christian Education Desk).

The consultation provided opportunities for participants to interact, share best practices and challenges and to come up with mitigation strategies to overcome crises caused by COVID-19. Participants decided to create communication platforms to continue engaging on issues affecting LUCSA member churches. Participants expressed their appreciation for the ways that the consultation opened their eyes regarding the topic of sustainability.  They also strongly emphasised  the need for the churches to network and to cooperate closely in order to strengthen the work of mission and diakonia in the region.

LUCSA Executive Director Rev Lilana Kasper Official opening the Consultation

Participants with the LUCSA Executive Director