Bern, Switzerland [APD, CD EUDNews]. December 2, 2014.
Dr. Ganoune Diop was voted the new Secretary-General at the annual conference of the secretariats of the "Christian World Communions". Once a year, Secretaries-General or equivalent officers from about 20 Christian World Communions take part in an informal two or three-day conference to present the work done in their churches and discuss current issues.
The group includes the Anglican Consultative Council, Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, Catholic Union of Utrecht, Baptist World Alliance, Lutheran World Federation, World Communion of Reformed Churches, Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, Salvation Army, General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Mennonite World Conference, Methodist world Council, Ecumenical World Council of Churches and World Evangelical Alliance.
The Secretary-General organizes annual conferences and is elected for two years, usually with multiple re-election. The Conference of Secretaries represents about two billion Christians and covers more churches than any other organization.
"It isn't a ecumenical movement.The purpose is not to build the visible unity of the Christian family, but to share information, concerns, and reports, and to become better acquainted with each other. No church is encouraged to change its beliefs or to create a new Christian community. Doctrinal issues are not on the agenda. The members represent their churches and their beliefs," so former secretary general, Dr. John Graz.
Dr. Diop Ganoune comes from Senegal, a country in West Africa, and is pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He is the contact person for the worldwide church at the United Nations (UN), as Deputy Director of the Department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty at the Adventist General Conference (World church leadership) in Silver Springs, Maryland, USA. He studied theology in France (Collonges), Language and Literature (Paris), and has a PhD in Old Testament theology from Andrews University in Michigan, USA. Diop is also part of the planning committee of the Global Christian Forum. The Forum is a platform for meeting and conversation between Christian churches and communities, to promote mutual understanding and take up common challenges and address them. For several decades, the Secretary-General of the annual conference of Secretaries of the Christian World Communions have been Seventh-day Adventist. Dr. Bert B. Beach was in office from 1970-2003, and Dr. John Graz from 2003-2014. Here the original article. Picture: Dr. Ganoune Diop, new secretary general of the Christian World Communions (ANN).