Rev Mtata Being Considered For LWF General Secretary Post

Rev Dr Kenneth Mtata is being considered for the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Secretary post whose elections are scheduled to take place on 19 June 2021.

Mtata is one of the two candidates, the other is Rev. Anne Burghardt from Estonia, who are poised to be the new leader of the communion of churches. In a statement, LWI said the two candidates are:

Rev. Anne Burghardt

• Current position: Head of Development, EELC Institute of Theology; Advisor for International and Ecumenical Relations, EELC
• Church: Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church
• Country: Estonia

Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata

• Current position: General Secretary, Zimbabwe Council of Churches
• Church: Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe
• Country: Zimbabwe

A search committee of 7 members, was appointed by the Council to receive nominations and present candidates for election.

The chair of the committee, Canadian Bishop Susan Johnson, informed LWF President Archbishop Dr Panti Filibus Musa that the committee has concluded its work and is proposing these two candidates for election.

She commended both candidates for their leadership skills, pastoral sensitivity, and wide experience of the global communion of 148 member churches. Said Bishop Johnson:

_Now it is up to the Council to discern and decide who will lead the LWF communion over the coming years._

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Lutheran World Federation President Musa said:

_The search committee has presented us with two excellent candidates for the post of our next general secretary. I am grateful for their hard work and confident that the LWF will have strong leadership in the years to come._

The position of general secretary will be vacant from 1 November 2021 after the incumbent, Rev. Dr Martin Junge, leaves office.

He was elected for a first seven-year term in November 2010 and re-elected by the Council for a second term in 2017.

Junge, a former president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile, joined the LWF in 2000 and previously served as Area Secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean.

He announced he would step down in May last year.

More: Pindula News; Lutheran World Federation