Members of the World Council of Churches Central Committee at their meeting in Trondheim, Norway. • DAF/WCC |
Two Anglicans will serve on the executive committee of the World Council of Churches, following elections this week at a meeting of the ecumenical body’s Central Committee in Trondheim, Norway.
Agnes Abuom continues in her role as moderator of the WCC’s Central Committee. Abuom, a member of the Anglican Church of Kenya, made history when she was elected in 2013 as the first woman and the first African to hold the post.
She will be joined on the executive committee by another Anglican, the Rev. Rex Reyes, Jr., a member of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines and general secretary of the National Council of Churches of the Philippines.
The WCC’s assembly, which meets every seven years, has the mandate to review programs, issue public statements, and determine the overall policies of the WCC. It also elects presidents and a central committee to oversee the WCC’s work until the next assembly.
The central committee acts as the chief governing body of the WCC between assemblies. It meets every two years. The central committee elects an executive committee that meets twice a year.
The executive committee, which meets twice a year, has fiduciary responsibility for the governance of the WCC and ensures implementation of the strategic objectives set by the central committee, oversees the council’s finances, approves the budget, monitors programmatic work, establishes personnel policies, and appoints leadership staff.
The new members of the WCC executive committee:
- Moderator Agnes Abuom, Anglican Church of Kenya
- Vice Moderator H.E. Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima, Orthodox, Greece, Ecumenical Patriarchate
- Bishop Mary Ann Swenson, United Methodist Church, United States
- Bishop Petra Bosse-Huber, Evangelical Church in Germany
- The Rev. Festus Ambe Asana, Presbyterian Church in Cameroon
- The Rev. Samson Olasupo Adeniyi Ayokunle, Nigerian Baptist Convention
- 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
- Emily Evans, Uniting Church in Australia
- The Rev. Manhong Lin, China Christian Council
- The Rev. Hyun JuBae, Presbyterian Church of Korea
- The Rev. 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 Nifon of Targoviste, Romanian Orthodox Church
- Bishop Simo Peura, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
- The Rev. Karin Van Den Broeke, Protestant Church in the Netherlands
- The Rev. Martina Viktorie Kopecká, Czechoslovak Hussite Church
- The Rev. Cora Luisa Antonio Matamoros, Moravian Church in Nicaragua
- H.E. Metropolitan Zachariah Mar Nicholovos, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
- Anne Glynn-Mackoul, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East
- Bishop John F White, African Methodist Episcopal Church, United States
- The Rev. Robina Winbush, Presbyterian Church (USA)
- The Rev. Taaroanui Maraea, Maohi Protestant Church, French Polynesia