The LWF Council appoints new directors for the Departments of Mission and Development and World ServiceStrengthening holistic mission and humanitarian aid
Geneva, 19.06.2015.
The LWF Council has appointed Maria Immonen as the new director of the Department for World Service (DWS) and Rev. Dr. Fidon Mwombeki as the director of the Department for Mission and Development (DMD).
Immonen, who had been the interim director of World Service since September 2014, becomes the first woman to lead the LWF’s international arm for humanitarian aid and development. The Council confirmed her for an initial five-year term at its June 19 session.
The LWF World Service has 5,000 employees who work with local and international partners to relieve suffering, fight against injustice and poverty, helping 2 million people in 30 countries. Immonen is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF), and her previous experience is connected with the field of development and human rights. Before she took up the position of interim director in September 2014, she had worked since April 2014 as the coordinator of the LWF World Service global programs. From 2003 to 2007 she worked on human rights, gender and peace issues in the East Africa program section.
From 2008 to 2014 she worked at the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission as the director of Development Cooperation, and from 1999 to 2003 – as a development coordinator.
Immonen has served as a member of the LWF Council, a member of the World Service Committee, on the ELCF Council for International Relations, and on the board of the ACT Alliance and the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance.
She holds a master’s degree in English and in Development Studies, obtained at the University of Helsinki, and a degree in leadership and management, obtained at the Helsinki Business College. Before her, from 2006 until September 2014, the director of World Service was Rev. Eberhard Hitzler of Germany. The Tanzanian theologian Mwombeki
The goal of the DMD’s holistic mission includes support for the LWF member churches in proclaiming the gospel, advocating for justice and peace, and supporting the building of church networks and relationships. The department helps churches share their resources and skills, provides training and capacity building, as well as financial assistance.
The newly appointed DMD director Mwombeki currently serves as the General Secretary of the United Evangelical Mission (UEM – a communion of churches on three continents) in Wuppertal, Germany. He comes to the LWF with his theological experience, broad expertise in financial management, and organizational leadership at the regional and global level.
An ordained pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT), Mwombeki joined the UEM in 2005 as the Executive Secretary for Evangelism and took up the duties of General Secretary in 2006. Before that, for four years he was the General Secretary of the ELCT North-Western Diocese in Bukoba.
He is a member of the council of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) and has previously served on the board of the bank “Oikocredit”, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Tanzania Coalition on Debt and Development. He holds a doctoral degree in Biblical Studies, obtained at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a master’s degree in business administration, obtained at California Coast University.
Before Mwombeki, from September 2013 until January 2015 the position of DMD director was held by Rev. Dr. Carlos Bock of Brazil. The DMD is currently led on an interim basis by Rev. Dr. Silvio Schneider of Brazil. Photo: LWF/Helen Putsman LWF/Helen Putsman
Translated from English by ELCLAbroad pastor Ieva Puriņa
Proofreader Mag. Theol. Milda Klampe