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The Primate of The Church of the Lord (TCL) Worldwide, The Most Rev. (Dr) Rufus Ositelu, has been elected President of the World Council of Churches (WCC) for Africa by delegates at the 11th WCC General Assembly, in Karlsruhe Germany.
Dr. Ositelu, who was elected on September 5, 2022, is the first African from an African Instituted Church and the first head of church in Nigeria to occupy the exalted and esteemed position of WCC President for Africa since it was formed in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in 1948.
He is the incumbent and fourth Primate of The Church of the Lord (TCL) Worldwide and a great ecumenist. Primate Ositelu was the former Vice President of the Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN) and has also served successfully as a member of WCC central committee, the highest decision making body of the organisation.As a visionary Leader, he has taken TCL to greater heights.
The Church of The Lord was one of the very first African Instituted Churches to be admitted as a member of WCC about six decades ago.
Other regions with newly elected presidents include Asia, Caribbean and Latin America, Europe, North America, Pacific, Eastern orthodox and Oriental orthodox.
The WCC is a fellowship of 352-member churches in over 120 countries, representing over 560 million Christians all over the world. It was formed to work for the reunion of all Christian churches and to establish a united Christian presence in the world.
The 11th General Assembly with the theme, ‘Christ love moves the world to reconciliation and unity,’ started on August 31, 2022, and ends on September 8, 2022, in Karlsruhe, Germany.