EGN NEWS DESK
(CP) World Evangelical Alliance Secretary General Thomas Schirrmacher has resigned from his place within the distinguished international Christian group resulting from well being causes.
Schirrmacher stepped down from secretary normal of the 600-million-member group on Sunday whereas nonetheless in his first time period, which was scheduled to run out on Feb. 28, 2026.
In a press release Monday, the WEA introduced that the WEA International Council unanimously accepted his resignation as a result of results of lengthy COVID-19.
Goodwill Shana, the chair of the WEA International Council, will function interim head of the WEA for a interval not anticipated to exceed six months whereas the council’s Human Resource Committee will launch a evaluate strategy of the Office of the Secretary General, which is predicted to result in a variety course of for a brand new secretary normal and CEO.
“Schirrmacher has had a protracted productive relationship with the WEA, its nationwide members and commissions,” the WEA assertion reads. “His erudite writings reinforcing biblical fact have been an encouragement to many.”
“The International Council of the WEA seems to the prayers and help of the WEA household and buddies to navigate the street forward with God’s route, knowledge and charm.”
A local of Germany, professor and an Anglican archbishop coadjutor, Schirrmacher took workplace in 2021, changing Secretary General Efraim Tendero, who served a single time period. Before Tendero, Geoff Tunnicliffe and Jun Vencer every served two phrases.
As govt chair, Shana will oversee a workforce of two deputy secretaries normal (Peirong Lin and Samuel Chiang). The deputy secretaries normal position was created in Tendero’s time period to type the Office of Secretary General and continued in Schirrmacher’s time period.
Schirrmacher earned 4 doctorates: one in ecumenical research in 1985, one in cultural anthropology in 1989, one in ethics in 1996 and one in sociology of faith in 2007. He additionally has three honorary doctorates.
Prior to changing into head of the WEA, Schirrmacher served the worldwide Evangelical physique as affiliate secretary normal for Theological Concerns and Intrafaith and Interfaith Relations.
He is archbishop coadjutor of the Communio Christiana underneath Archbishop William Mikler, a worldwide impartial Anglican group with a Reformed and Charismatic emphasis. In that position, he works intently with the Communio Messianca, which connects church buildings from an Oriental background in 75 nations.
“I’m humbled that so many esteemed leaders are placing their belief in me,” mentioned Schirrmacher in a 2021 assertion. “Having been a part of the management for a very long time, I already really feel very a lot at residence within the WEA.”
During his inaugural speech in 2021, Schirrmacher described the Bible because the “confession of the Church” and the “paper pope” that dictates the beliefs of the devoted.
“We are proud to have a Paper Pope as a result of the Paper Pope assures that none of us, together with me, are above the Word of God,” he mentioned on the time. “We all undergo the Word of God; nobody is above it.”
Schirrmacher additionally penned a collection of articles for The Christian Post in October 2015, documenting his experiences on the Vatican Synod on Family, which passed off in Rome.
WEA secretary generals are appointed by the group’s International Council to serve a five-year time period. They can even serve a number of consecutive phrases.
© The Christian Post
