[ACNS] Two Anglicans will serve on the executive committee of the World Council of Churches, following elections this week at a meeting of the ecumenical body’s Central Committee in Trondheim, Norway.

Dr Agnes Abuom continues in her role as moderator of the WCC’s Central Committee. Dr Abuom, a member of the Anglican Church of Kenya, made history when she was elected in 2013 because she was the first woman, and the first African, to hold the post.

She will be joined on the executive committee by another Anglican, the Revd Rex Reyes Jr, a member of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines and the general secretary of the National Council of Churches of the Philippines.

Within the structures of the World Council of Churches, the Assembly, which meets every seven years, has the mandate to review programmes, to issue public statements and determine the overall policies of the WCC. It also elects its presidents and a Central Committee to oversee the WCC’s work until the next assembly.

The Central Committee acts as the chief governing body of the WCC in-between assemblies. It meets every two years. The Central Committee elects an executive committee which meets twice a year.

The executive committee, which meets twice a year, has fiduciary responsibility for the governance of the WCC and ensures implementation of the strategic objectives set by the Central Committee, oversees the finances of the council, approves the budget, monitors ongoing programmatic work, establishes personnel policies and appoints leadership staff.

The new members of the WCC executive committee are:

Dr Agnes Abuom,
Moderator,
Anglican Church of Kenya

H.E. Metropolitan Prof Dr Gennadios of Sassima,
Vice-Moderator,
Orthodox, Greece, Ecumenical Patriarchate

Bishop Mary Ann Swenson,
Methodist, USA, United Methodist Church

Bishop Petra Bosse-Huber,
Evangelical Church in Germany

The Revd Dr Festus Ambe Asana,
Presbyterian Church in Cameroon

The Revd. Dr Samson Olasupo Adeniyi Ayokunle,
Nigerian Baptist Convention

Dr Abba Haile Mariam Melese Ayenew,
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

Padi Rex R B Reyes Jr,
National Council of Churches of the Philippines, Episcopal Church in the Philippines

Ms Emily Evans,
Uniting Church in Australia

The Revd Dr Manhong Lin,
China Christian Council

The Revd Dr Hyun JuBae,
Presbyterian Church of Korea

The Revd Dr Paul Gardner,
Moravian Church in Jamaica

Archpriest Mikhail Goundiaev,
Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)

H.E. Metropolitan Serafim Kykotis,
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa

H.E. Metropolitan Prof Dr Nifon of Targoviste,
Romanian Orthodox Church

Bishop Simo Peura,
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland

The Revd Karin Van Den Broeke,
Protestant Church in the Netherlands

The Revd Martina Viktorie Kopecká,
Czechoslovak Hussite Church

The Revd Cora Luisa Antonio Matamoros,
Moravian Church in Nicaragua

H.E. Metropolitan Zachariah Mar Nicholovos,
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

Mrs Anne Glynn-Mackoul,
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East

Bishop John F White,
African Methodist Episcopal Church, USA

The Revd Robina Winbush,
Presbyterian Church, USA

The Revd Taaroanui Maraea,
Maohi Protestant Church, French Polynesia