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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 10.09.2004 |
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| German Theologian Achtelstetter to Serve as LWF Deputy General Secretary |
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LWF Council Meeting, Geneva, 1 – 7 September 2004
PRESS RELEASE NO. 18-2004
LWF Council Designates Achtelstetter as LWF Deputy General Secretary
GENEVA, 10 September 2004 (LWI) – The Council of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) at as its meeting in Geneva, designated German theologian and journalist Ms Karin Achtelstetter, as Deputy General Secretary. Achtelstetter continues with her current function as director of the LWF Office for Communication Services.
As deputy general secretary, Achtelstetter will among other tasks, represent the LWF General Secretary, Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko in his absence. The Council met September 1-7 in Chavannes-de-Bogis near Geneva.
Achtelstetter, 43, will assume her new function on 1 January 2005, succeeding Rev. Sven Oppegaard, who the Council had appointed as interim deputy general secretary for the period 1 January to 31 December 2004. Oppegaard is the LWF Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Affairs, a position he has held since August 1997.
Achtelstetter has been the director and editor-in-chief of LWF/OCS since August 2002. From 1999 until 2002, she was the World Council of Churches (WCC) Media Relations Officer, and coordinator of the WCC Public Information Team. Before joining the WCC, Achtelstetter served for over four years as assistant editor with the LWF, responsible for the production of the German edition of Lutheran World Information. In addition, she taught various courses as a visiting lecturer of the department of Christian communication, faculty of theology, Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.
Achtelstetter earned her first degree in theology from the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen-Nuremberg (1982). She was a visiting student at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, specializing in feminist theology and Jewish studies before gaining a first degree in sociology (1984) from Erlangen-Nuremberg. She pursued post-graduate studies at the University of Kent, Canterbury, England, graduating with a Master of Arts in Women’s Studies (1987), and a Master of Theology from Erlangen-Nuremberg in 1989.
Her first stint with journalism was with a Protestant weekly in Munich, Evangelisches Sonntagsblatt in 1983. Her editorial training (1989-1991) at the Protestant press union in Munich included experience at various news agencies, newspapers and radio stations including the public Bavarian broadcasting corporation. She was founding-editor of a religious quarterly, Evangelische Aspekte and author of several radio features, 1991-1994.
Achtelstetter, is married, and is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. (369 words)
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Around 100 church representatives including the 49-member Council attended this year’s meeting at Chavannes-de-Bogis near Geneva. In addition there were 70 participants consisting of invited guests, LWF staff persons, interpreters, stewards and journalists. The Council is the LWF’s governing body between Assemblies, normally held every six years. The current Council was elected at the July 2003 Tenth Assembly in Winnipeg, Canada, where it held its first meeting. The Council comprises the President, the Treasurer and ordained as well as lay persons drawn from the LWF member churches. The LWF currently has 138 member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of nearly 65 million people.
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