wfn.org | LWI Council Press Release No. 10/2009 General Secretary-Elect Junge Prioritizes Changes That Will S

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>LWI Council Press Release No. 10/2009

General Secretary-Elect Junge Prioritizes Changes That Will
Strengthen LWF Communion
Noko Promises a Transition with Respect and Dignity 

GENEVA, 26 October 2009 (LWI) – The newly elected General
Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Rev. Martin
Junge, says his major priorities include enhancing the quality of
relationships among churches in the Lutheran communion and
embarking on a participatory planning process to ensure the
organization's sustainability. 

The Council elected the Chilean theologian in a closed session
today in the context of its 22-27 October meeting at
Chavannes-de-Bogis, near Geneva, Switzerland. Junge received 37
votes in favor and five against in the election for which a
search committee had proposed him as the sole candidate for
election. 

LWF President Bishop Mark S. Hanson's announcement to the open
Council plenary session about Junge's election was received with
a standing ovation and a long applause. "Our clear vote is a
strong, strong statement of our confidence in Martin Junge," said
Hanson, who is presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America. 

In his acceptance speech, Junge said he accepted with humility
the privilege to serve the Lutheran communion in this new
position, and urged support and prayers in carrying the burdens
and challenges that the task entailed. He particularly called for
the support of outgoing general secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko,
and expressed his conviction that "we will manage to organize a
perfect transition period as this communion deserves it. [And
one] in which you will be fully in charge until the last day of
your period, and I will be able to be in charge right from the
first day of my own period."

Congratulating his incoming successor, Noko assured Junge of his
cooperation and prayers in the transition, saying, "God's grace
is plenty, this is your daily bread, to depend on God." He
promised to arrange in dignity and respect "the way we should
hand over the work of the LWF." 

The LWF president expressed his commitment to facilitate this
transition in the best way possible. He declared that the long
election process "did not say anything about the quality of the
candidate but it was because of the difficulties in the
procedure." He said he took personal responsibility that the June
2008 Council meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, had not given clear
guidelines for the search committee process. He thanked the two
other nominees - Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla (USA) and Mr Robert
Granke (Canada) - who were present at the Council meeting and
"for whom the process wasn't easy." The election was originally
scheduled for 22 October.

>Participatory Change Process

Junge explained that prioritizing focus on the institutional
development of the LWF was necessary in order to enhance
democracy in decision-making and implementation, promote
effectiveness and efficiency, and integrate innovation for
sustainability in the future. 

"We all know how difficult changes are, particularly for an
organization as big and diverse and with as many stakeholders and
interests as ours. Yet, without changes, without innovation, no
organization can survive in the long term. This is why plans need
to be developed, so that those changes that the gift of communion
requires today and tomorrow, can actually take place," said Junge
in his acceptance speech.

"I'm prepared to lead these processes, involving staff in a
participatory manner in order to generate concepts, proposals and
scenarios, which will then be the basis for your work as the
governing body of the LWF," he added.

Junge emphasized the importance of the polycentric nature of the
LWF communion - with no one center, but many centers - allowing
for spirituality, theology and diaconal witness to develop
especially with respect to ecumenical relationships. "This
diversity is not a problem. It is a gift," he added, citing
examples of LWF's initiatives globally including diaconal work,
ecumenical dialogues and interfaith diapraxis.

The general secretary-elect is currently area secretary for the
Latin American and Caribbean region at the LWF Department for
Mission and Development, a position he took up in 2000. He will
succeed Zimbabwean theologian Noko, who has served as general
secretary since 1994, and is scheduled to leave office at the end
of October 2010. 

Junge was born in 1961 in Chile, as the third of five children
of an Austrian mother and a Chilean father. Following studies in
Protestant theology in Germany, he was ordained as a pastor of
the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile (Iglesia Evangelica
Luterana en Chile - IELC) in 1989. He was IELC president from
1996 to 2000. Since 2008, he has been pursuing a diploma in the
management of not-for-profit organizations at the
"Verbandsmanagement Institut" (VMI) of the University of Freiburg
in Switzerland

General secretary-elect Junge is married, with two children.

The LWF General Secretary conducts the business of the
Federation in collaboration with the Cabinet, 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. (818 words)

More information on the 2009 LWF Council meeting is available on
the LWF Web site at: www.lutheranworld.org

>*      *      *

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

Further information about the 2009 LWF Council meeting is
available on the LWF Web site at: www.lutheranworld.org