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Wylie and Helene Parliament of the World's Religions |
Greenland's Gift to the World
A delegation that has come all the way from the far north of the globe would like to share their gift of service to the world. Finn Lynge, Ellen Kristensen and Ove-Karl Berthelsen are attending the Parliament as representatives the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Greenland.
In the summer of 1000, Vikings built the first Christian church in South Greenland, which is also the first in the New World. The site was discovered by archeologists in the 1960s and a replica of that first church has been built by specialists in Viking architecture. The church has been named Tjodhilde's Church, after the first Viking woman to convert to the Christian faith.
As part of the Millennium Celebrations, it is the intention to create an international ecumenical framework around this little chapel, built over Christianity's first footprint on the North American continent. Every Christian community found on the North American continent will have access to worship in this little chapel.
The delegates from Greenland say that, apart from this gift of service to the world, they have more to offer delegates from a multitude of religious traditions gathered at the Parliament, the gift of understanding. Lynge points out that the 56 000 inhabitants of Greenland have never been at war, do not even have a defence force of its own, and as such has much to teach the world about peace and nonviolence.
For more information please see the Offical Guide to Greenland
Report by Janneke Engelbrecht
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