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Central Committee, Trondheim, 2016.  Photo: Daniel Favaro/WCC

Central Committee, Trondheim, 2016. Photo: Daniel Favaro/WCC

The Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC), at its meeting in Trondheim, Norway, 27 June 2016, has elected a new executive committee with 11 new members.

In the WCC, the Central Committee elects from its members persons to serve as the Executive Committee of the WCC, along with the Leadership of the Central Committee– the moderator, two vice-moderators and the general secretary - as well as the moderators of its programme and finance policy committees.

Meeting twice a year, the Executive Committee's role is to assume fiduciary responsibility for the governance of the WCC, exercising the powers delegated to it by the central committee.  The executive committee ensures implementation of the strategic objectives set by the central committee, oversees the finances of the council, approves the budget, monitors ongoing programmatic work, establishes personnel policies and appoints leadership staff.

Previously the Executive Committee served from assembly to assembly, but the 10th Assembly, meeting in Busan, Republic of Korea, in 2013, decided to hold elections at midterm. The new Executive Committee is listed below, with newly elected members in boldface:

Dr Agnes Abuom, Moderator, Anglican Church of Kenya

H.E. Metropolitan Prof. Dr Gennadios of Sassima, Vice-Moderator, Orthodox, Greece, Ecumenical Patriarchate

Bishop Mary Ann Swenson, Methodist, USA, United Methodist Church

Bishop Petra Bosse-Huber, Evangelical Church in Germany

Rev. Dr Festus Ambe Asana, Presbyterian Church in Cameroon

Rev. Dr Samson Olasupo Adeniyi Ayokunle, Nigerian Baptist Convention

Dr Abba Haile Mariam Melese Ayenew, Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

Padi Rex R. B. Reyes, Jr., National Council of Churches of the Philippines, Episcopal Church in the Philippines

Ms Emily Evans, Uniting Church in Australia

Rev. Dr Manhong Lin, China Christian Council

Rev. Dr Hyun JuBae, Presbyterian Church of Korea

Rev. Dr Paul Gardner, Moravian Church in Jamaica

Archpriest Mikhail Goundiaev, Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)

H.E. Metropolitan Serafim Kykotis, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa

H.E. Metropolitan Prof. Dr Nifon of Targoviste, Romanian Orthodox Church

Bishop Simo Peura, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

Rev. Karin Van Den Broeke, Protestant Church in the Netherlands

Rev. Martina Viktorie Kopecká, Czechoslovak Hussite Church

Rev. Cora Luisa Antonio Matamoros, Moravian Church in Nicaragua

H.E. Metropolitan Zachariah Mar Nicholovos, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

Mrs Anne Glynn-Mackoul, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East

Bishop John F. White, African Methodist Episcopal Church, USA

Rev. Robina Winbush, Presbyterian Church, USA

Rev. Taaroanui Maraea,Maohi Protestant Church, French Polynesia

The WCC Central Committee appointed Rev. Frank Chikane, a member of the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa (Pentecostal), as new moderator of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA).

Bishop Petra Bosse-Huber, from the Evangelical Church in Germany, was appointed as the new moderator of the Programme Committee of the World Council of Churches Central Committee.

The Central Committee also elected a committee to perform a midterm evaluation of its programmes and another to plan the next WCC assembly.

More information:

WCC Central Committee meeting