5 September 2022, Karlsruhe, Germany: Newly elected WCC presidents at the 11th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, held in Karlsruhe, Germany from 31 August to 8 September, under the theme “Christ’s Love Moves the World to Reconciliation and Unity.” Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC
The Most Rev Rufus Okikiola Ositelu has been elected president of the World Council of Churches for the African region.
The news of his election was first reported in a Facebook post by Gbenga Dan Asabe, MD/CEO of Asabe Afrika TV
According to the report monitored by Church Times on the blog, Ositelu was elected by delegates at the 11th WCC General Assembly on September 5th, 2022 in Karlsruhe Germany.
He thus became the first leader of an African Instituted Church and the first head of Church in Nigeria to occupy the position of WCC President for Africa since it was formed in Amsterdam Netherlands in 1948.
Ositelu is the fourth Primate of The Church of the Lord (TCL) Worldwide. He was once the Vice President of the Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN).
He had served successfully as a member of the WCC central committee – the highest decision-making body of the WCC.
The Church of The Lord was one of the very first African Instituted Churches to be admitted as a member of WCC about six decades ago.
Other regions with newly elected presidents for WCC include Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Europe, North America, the Pacific, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental orthodox were also elected.
A report from the website of the World Council of Churches gives a rundown of the other presidents as published below:
Asia
Rev. Dr. Henriette Hutabarat-Lebang, from Gereja Tora, a Reformed church in Indonesia, was elected Asia president. Hutabarat-Lebang is a church leader and ecumenist from Indonesia. She is a current member of the WCC central committee and has served the ecumenical movement since her involvement in the Youth Working Group of the National Council of Churches in Indonesia beginning in 1976.
Caribbean and Latin America
From the Caribbean and Latin America, Rev. Philip Silvin Wright was elected as president. Wright was ordained a deacon and a priest at the historic Anglican Cathedral Church of St John the Baptist in Belize City.
He worked primarily in the pastoral ministry in various districts in Belize. Wright has served on several boards and committees, including the National Commission for Good Governance, the Board of Governors of the University of Belize, the National Committee for Families and Children, and the Community Rehabilitation Department.
Europe
For Europe, Rev. Dr. Susan Durber of the United Reformed Church (United and Uniting) will serve as president. She is an ordained minister of the United Reformed Church in the UK.
Dr. Durber has served local churches as a pastor in the united church. She served as principal of Westminster in Cambridge, part of the Cambridge Theological Federation, and as theological advisor for Christian Aid, an agency of the churches in the UK for international development.
She attended the World Conference on Faith and Order in Santiago da Compostela as a younger theologian and a few years later a consultation for younger theologians in Turku, Finland where she was inducted into the ecumenical movement and mentored by those with much experience.
North America
Rev. Dr. Angelique Walker-Smith of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., will serve as president for North America.
Walker-Smith is the national senior associate for Pan African and Orthodox Church Engagement at Bread for the World based in Washington D.C.
She has been Ecumenical Representative for National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. and is a current member of the WCC central committee, and is engaged in the work of the National Council of Churches in the USA. She is also President of the Historic Black Church Family of Christian Churches Together also made up of many of the USA national churches. She also served as the initiator of the Pan African Women of Faith Networks.
Pacific
The Pacific’s president will be Rev. François Phiaatae, of the Maòhi Protestant Church a Reformed church. Pihaatae is from Maohi Nui (French Polynesia) and is an ordained minister of the Etärëtia Porotetani Mäòhi (Mäòhi Protestant Church).
In addition to his parish responsibilities, Pihaatae was called on to take on broader leadership responsibilities when he was elected chairman of a circuit of the church, a position he held for nearly ten years.
As chairman, he was also an active member of the Church Executive Committee and Synod where he initiated many programs to benefit churches of the region.
Pihaatae gained significant global leadership experience when he served as a member of the WCC Churches Commission for World Mission and Evangelism, 2000-2005.
Eastern Orthodox
For the Eastern Orthodox churches, H.E. Metropolitan Dr. Vasilios of Constantia – Ammochostos, Church of Cyprus, will serve as president. Metropolitan Vasilios is a native of Ammochostos on the island of Cyprus.
After he finished his basic education, Vasilios joined the brotherhood of the Monastery of the Apostle Barnabas and was tonsured a monk with the name Vasilios. He lived at the monastery until the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
While pursuing his education, Vasilios entered the Holy Orders when ordained a deacon at the Apostle Barnabas Monastery and a priest in Cyprus, raised to the dignity of archimandrite, and then was elected Bishop of Trimithounta by the Holy Synod of the Church of Cyprus.
Oriental Orthodox
H.H. Catholicos Aram I, Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Cilicia, at the Catholicosate in Antelias, will serve as the president of the Oriental Orthodox churches president. He is a former moderator of the WCC central committee.
Aram has played an important role in the initiation of Oriental Orthodox-Roman Catholic and Oriental Orthodox-Lutheran Theological Dialogues. His Holiness has served as the president of the Middle East Council of Churches since November 2007.
About WCC
The WCC is a fellowship of 352 member churches in over one hundred and twenty (120) countries representing over five hundred and sixty (560) million Christians all over the world.
The goal of the WCC is to establish a united Christian presence in the world.
The 11th General Assembly with the theme: “Christ love moves the world to reconciliation and unity” started on August 31st 2022 and ended on September 8th 2022 in Karlsruhe, Germany.
