WCC NEWS: Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia A. Thompson installed as general minster and president of the United Church of Christ

Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia A. Thompson was installed as general minster and president of the United Church of Christ on 20 October. She is the first female to hold this leadership post.  Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia A. Thompson installed as general minster and president of the United Church of Christ on 20 October 2023 24 October 2023 The ceremony took place at the Lakewood Congregational Church in Ohio (USA), where Rev. Dr Andrea Vassell opened the service. “Let us not only understand the gravity of the moment but the celebration of the moment,” she said. WCC central committee vice-moderator Rev. Merlyn Hyde Riley offered a sermon that celebrated Thompson as a person called by God into leadership. “This is a historic moment in the United Church of Christ,” she said. “God has called into leadership someone from a group of people historically displaced, dispossessed, and disenfranchised.” She added that oppressors usually believe that it is in their interest to maintain the status quo. “But God is making all things new, and so this is potentially making all things new for them as well,” she said. “Yes, my sisters and brothers, God is about to do a new thing.” She encouraged those gathered in person and online to faithfully engage in living out the call of God in their lives. “Barriers are broken down. Domination is set aside. False claims are exposed. Victims are made to conceive of new possibilities,” said Hyde Riley. “The church must provide leadership in the transformation of our world.” Transformation is not always quick or easy, she noted. “In fact, this may often appear to be an impossibility,” she said. “But we should remember that the same God who makes a wave in the sea, the same God who gives water in the wilderness, and water in the desert, continues to be with us.” Thompson expressed her heartfelt thankfulness. “We are the church, the church of Jesus Christ in all its manifestations,” she said. “We are but a fraction of what it means and what it is to be the people of God.” 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 general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa. 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