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Note #7412 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

03-September-2002
02336
    
Wanted: Theologically-grounded CEO for mission impossible  
  
by Jerry Van Marter  

Geneva - Looking for an impossible job? The World Council of Churches may just have one for those seeking to be both a CEO and a theological supremo.  

In one of its final actions Tuesday, the main governing body of the world's largest ecumenical organization approved a "role description" for the person who will succeed Dr Konrad Raiser, who retires next year after 11 years as the WCC's general secretary.  

At a press conference following the close of the WCC central committee meeting, its vice-moderator, Marion Best of the United Church of Canada, described the general secretary job as "totally impossible for one person".   

She said the general secretary must be "someone deeply committed to the Christian faith, an articulate theological spokesperson and a creative thinker". Best said the next general secretary "will have to be someone who can bring out the gifts of others, facilitating a team approach but also be the face of the WCC to the world".  

Raiser said he had wondered if his lengthy participation in the WCC prior to being elected general secretary in August 1992 had been "beneficial."   

Saying the job requires "the ability to work with very, very complex institutional dynamics," Raiser said: "Sometimes we may hold on to [institutional] traditions that may need to be discarded. A fresh perspective may be more desirable."  

In addition to approving the role description, the central committee approved a timeline for electing Raiser's successor next August. It includes an end-of-September letter soliciting nominations, a 15 January deadline for nominations and a February 28 deadline for applications.  

The 18-member search committee, chaired by the Rev. Maake Masongo of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, will review candidates in early-April next year and hold interviews in June. The election of the new general secretary is slated for August 26, 2003, when the central committee next meets. 
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