WCC NEWS: WCC executive committee appoints three new WCC staff leaders

The World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee has appointed, by consensus, three new WCC staff leaders: a programme director for Unity and Mission; a programme director for Public Witness and Diakonia; and a director of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism. Rev. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba, WCC programme director for Unity and Mission, Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, WCC programme director for Public Witness and Diakonia, and Rev. Dr Peter Cruchley, director of the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism. Photo: Ivars Kupcis/WCC, CWM 15 June 2022 Rev. Dr Kuzipa Nalwamba will serve as the programme director for Unity and Mission. A professor of Ecumenical Social Ethics, she is currently WCC programme executive for Ecumenical Theological Education. Nalwamba, from Zambia, holds a doctorate in Systemic Theology from the University of Pretoria. Before joining the WCC, she worked for the Council for World Mission as a project consultant for strategic planning and as mission secretary for communication. As WCC programme director for Unity and Mission, she will develop strategic directions for the programmatic work in the area of Unity and Mission, and will lead the planning, reporting and evaluation of programmatic work. She will also strengthen relationships with member churches, ecumenical partners and specialized ministries; and lead the implementation of programmatic work in collaborative ways with churches and partners. Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata has been appointed as the new WCC programme director for Public Witness and Diakonia. He is currently general secretary of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches. An ecumenical theologian from Zimbabwe with more than 20 years experience in pastoral, academic research, and faith-based organizational leadership, Mtata will, in his new role, develop strategic directions for the programmatic work in the area of Public Witness and Diakonia; Just Community of Women and Men; and Overcoming Racism. He will also lead the planning, reporting and evaluation of programmatic work; and strengthen relationships with member churches, ecumenical partners and specialized ministries. Rev. Dr Peter Cruchley will serve as the new director of the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism. A mission theologian from the UK, he is British, born of missionary parents of the Council for World Mission’s former self: the London Missionary Society. He is a minister of the United Reformed Church in the UK and is currently the mission secretary for Mission Development with the Council for World Mission. As the new director of the WCC Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, composed of 35 members nominated by the WCC central committee, he will foster conferences, consultations and visits, correspondence or other forms of contacts, for the sake of mission and unity of all Christians. The appointments will begin in November and December. The process for appointing a new director of the WCC Commission on Faith and Order is ongoing.  WCC acting general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca congratulated the new appointees, and said they would help ensure a vibrant future for the global fellowship. “The WCC and the world need these strong, experienced and creative bridge-builders,” he said. “Our next generation of leaders will be involved in historic steps and actions that embody the movement toward reconciliation and unity.”   WCC's work on Unity and Mission WCC's work on Public Witness and Diakonia WCC's Commission on World Mission and Evangelism 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