WCC NEWS: WCC appoints new vice moderator, makes other governing decisions

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has appointed H.E. Metropolitan Nifon of Târgoviște, Romanian Orthodox Church, to serve as vice moderator, fulfilling the service of the late Metropolitan Gennadios. H.E. Metropolitan Nifon of Târgoviște (Romanian Orthodox Church) has been appointed as a vice moderator of the World Council of Churches central committee. Photo: Peter Williams/WCC 18 June 2022 Metropolitan Nifon also currently serves on the WCC executive committee and as moderator of the Public Issues Committee. He also serves on the executive committee of the Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the WCC. The WCC also elected Rev. Anne Heitmann as moderator of the Assembly Planning Committee, another position held by the late Metropolitan Gennadios. Rev. Heitmann is from the Protestant Church in Baden, and is serving as the Head of Department for Mission and Ecumenical Relations in Baden. Prof. Dr Dimitra Koukoura, representing the Ecumenical Patriarchate was  elected to be  the  Orthodox  co-moderator of the Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration  (PCCC), another position held by the late Metropolitan Gennadios.   The executive committee noted in its report the specific requirements of the bylaws of the Faith and Order Commission and refers a decision to the commission on the successor for Metropolitan Gennadios.   Rev. Anne Heitmann, moderator of the Assembly Planning Committee and Prof. Dr Dimitra Koukoura the Orthodox co-moderator of the Permanent Committee on Consensus and Collaboration. Photo: Marcelo Schneider/WCC The governing body also received the report from the WCC executive committee, which outlined plans for 2023, acknowledging that 2023 will be a year of transition with renewed leadership and a renewed staff who will need the prayers and a warm welcome from the fellowship. The committee agreed to issue an invitation to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine to nominate two delegated observers to the WCC 11th Assembly, recognizing the church’s strong interest to join the WCC fellowship of member churches. The Union of Evangelical Free Churches in Germany was also invited to nominate a delegated observer to the assembly. The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, recognizing their role as a national council that brings together churches and other faiths, was invited to send up to three observers to the assembly. The organization Church and Peace was also invited to nominate an observer to the assembly. The governing body adopted the Financial Report 2021, and received the auditor’s comprehensive report. WCC Central committee meeting, June 2022 Photos from the WCC central committee meeting, June 2022 Learn more about the WCC 11th Assembly Obituary: WCC deeply mourns loss of leader Metropolitan Gennadios of Sassima See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 352 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC acting general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, from the Orthodox Church in Romania.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches 150 route de Ferney Geneve 2 1211 Switzerland