wfn.org | LWI Council Press Release No. 02/2009 LWF Council Delays Election of Next General Secretary

["LWFNews" <LWFNews@lutheranworld.org>]

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>LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION  
>LWI News online:
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>LWI Council Press Release No. 02/2009 

LWF Council Delays Election of Next General Secretary
Search Committee Asked to Bring Additional Name for
Consideration

GENEVA, 23 October 2009 (LWI) - The Council of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF) has decided to delay voting on the
election of a new general secretary for the LWF, which was
scheduled for 22 October. 

However, the vote on the next general secretary will still
happen during this Council meeting, which continues until 27
October. The LWF governing body meeting is taking place at
Chavannes-de-Bogis near Geneva, Switzerland. 

Reporting today on the outcome of a closed executive session of
the Council, LWF President Bishop Mark S. Hanson said the LWF
governing body had also requested the Search Committee "to make
every effort to bring an additional name of a candidate" for
consideration. "This in no way reflects on the quality of the
search committee’s report," said Hanson.

Discussion on the general secretary’s election and the report
by the search committee, headed by former president of the
Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus Rev. Iteffa Gobena,
took place in a closed session of the Council. The seven-member
search committee comprises representatives from all the LWF's
regions.

The current general secretary Zimbabwean pastor Rev. Dr Ishmael
Noko was elected in June 1994, becoming the first African to hold
the LWF's chief executive position. The Council reaffirmed his
election in 1997, and he was re-elected for a second seven-year
term in 2004. At the June 2008 Council meeting in Arusha,
Tanzania, Noko announced that he would be leaving office on 31
October 2010. 

The LWF General Secretary conducts the business of the
Federation in collaboration with the Cabinet, which is made up of
the directors of departments and units appointed by the Council.
The position holder is responsible for the implementation of the
Council and Assembly decisions. (310 words)

*      *      *

Around 75 representatives from LWF member churches and partner
organizations are attending this year’s Council meeting at
Chavannes de Bogis near Geneva, Switzerland. An additional 90
registered participants include invited guests, stewards,
interpreters and translators, media persons and LWF staff. 

The 49-member Council is the LWF’s governing body, meeting
every 12-18 months between Assemblies held every six years. The
current Council was appointed at the July 2003 Tenth Assembly in
Winnipeg, Canada. It comprises the President, Treasurer as well
as lay and ordained persons, representing the different LWF
regions. 

The Council host church, the Federation of Evangelical Lutheran
Churches in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein has
6,818 members, and has been an LWF member church since 1979. It
is headed by Ms Dagmar Magold.

>For media related queries, please contact:
>LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION 
>Tel.: +41/22-791 63 69 
>Fax: +41/22-791 66 30 
>E-Mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org 

At Hotel Chavannes de Bogis, Tel. +41/22-960 81 81
Mobile Tel. +41/76 396 2863

*      *      *

Around 75 representatives from LWF member churches and partner
organizations are attending this year's Council meeting at
Chavannes de Bogis near Geneva, Switzerland. An additional 90
registered participants include invited guests, stewards,
interpreters and translators, media persons and LWF staff. 

The 49-member Council is the LWF's governing body, meeting every
12-18 months between Assemblies held every six years. The current
Council was appointed at the July 2003 Tenth Assembly in
Winnipeg, Canada. It comprises the President, Treasurer as well
as lay and ordained persons, representing the different LWF
regions. 

The Council host church, the Federation of Evangelical Lutheran
Churches in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein has
6,818 members, and has been an LWF member church since 1979. It
is headed by Ms Dagmar Magold.

>For media related queries, please contact:

>LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION 
>Tel.: +41/22-791 63 69 
>Fax: +41/22-791 66 30 
>Editor’s E-Mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org 

At Hotel Chavannes de Bogis, Tel. +41/22-960 81 81
Mobile Tel. +41/76 396 2863