The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Council has elected Estonian theologian Rev Anne Burghardt as its next General Secretary. The 45-year-old Burghardt is currently serving as Head of Development for the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church’s (EELC) Institute of Theology and advisor to the church for international and ecumenical relations.

Burghardt will take over as LWF’s new General Secretary at the beginning of November, succeeding Rev Dr Martin Junge who has led the communion of 148 member churches for the past 11 years.She will be the first woman and the first Central Eastern European to hold this leadership position.

(LWF)