wfn.org | German Theologian Achtelstetter to Serve as LWF Deputy General Secretary

["Frank Imhoff" <Frank_Imhoff@elca.org>]

German Theologian Achtelstetter to Serve as LWF Deputy General
Secretary

LWF Council Meeting, Geneva, 1 - 7 September 2004

PRESS RELEASE NO. 18-2004

GENEVA, 10 September 2004 (LWI) - The Council of the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) at as its meeting in Geneva, designated German
theologian and journalist Ms Karin Achtelstetter, as Deputy General
Secretary. Achtelstetter continues with her current function as director
of the LWF Office for Communication Services (OCS). 

As deputy general secretary, Achtelstetter will among other tasks,
represent the LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko in his
absence. The Council met September 1-7 in Chavannes-de-Bogis near
Geneva. 

Achtelstetter, 43, will assume her new function on 1 January 2005,
succeeding Rev. Sven Oppegaard, who the Council had appointed as interim
deputy general secretary for the period 1 January to 31 December 2004.
Oppegaard is the LWF Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Affairs,
a position he has held since August 1997. 

Achtelstetter has been the director and editor-in-chief of LWF/OCS
since August 2002. From 1999 until 2002, she was the World Council of
Churches (WCC) Media Relations Officer, and coordinator of the WCC
Public Information Team. Before joining the WCC, Achtelstetter served
for over four years as assistant editor with the LWF, responsible for
the production of the German edition of Lutheran World Information. In
addition, she taught various courses as a visiting lecturer of the
department of Christian communication, faculty of theology,
Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. 

Achtelstetter earned her first degree in theology from the
Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen-Nuremberg (1982). She was a
visiting student at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, specializing in
feminist theology and Jewish studies before gaining a first degree in
sociology (1984) from Erlangen-Nuremberg. She pursued post-graduate
studies at the University of Kent, Canterbury, England, graduating with
a Master of Arts in Women's Studies (1987), and a Master of Theology
from Erlangen-Nuremberg in 1989. 

Her first stint with journalism was with a Protestant weekly in Munich,
Evangelisches Sonntagsblatt in 1983. Her editorial training (1989-1991)
at the Protestant press union in Munich included experience at various
news agencies, newspapers and radio stations including the public
Bavarian broadcasting corporation. She was founding-editor of a
religious quarterly, Evangelische Aspekte and author of several radio
features, 1991-1994. 

Achtelstetter, is married, and is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Bavaria. (369 words)

*       *       *

Around 100 church representatives including the 49-member Council
attended this year's meeting at Chavannes-de-Bogis near Geneva. In
addition there were 70 participants consisting of invited guests, LWF
staff persons, interpreters, stewards and journalists. The Council is
the LWF's governing body between Assemblies, normally held every six
years. The current Council was elected at the July 2003 Tenth Assembly
in Winnipeg, Canada, where it held its first meeting. The Council
comprises the President, the Treasurer and ordained as well as lay
persons drawn from the LWF member churches. The LWF currently has 138
member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of
nearly 65 million people.

*       *       *

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. It was founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology, humanitarian assistance,
human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and
development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent
positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the
dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be
freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

*       *       *

LUTHERAN WORLD INFORMATION
P. O. Box 2100, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel.:	+41/22-791 63 54
Fax:	+41/22-791 66 30
E-Mail: pmu@lutheranworld.org