Krakow, September 16, 2023 (KAP/KNA) Danish Bishop Henrik Stubkjaer is the new president of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The general assembly of the global umbrella organization of Lutherans, meeting in Krakow, elected him on Saturday with 274 of 319 votes cast as successor to Nigerian Panti Filibus Musa, whose term ended according to rotation. The Lutheran World Federation has 150 member churches with a total of 77 million Christians.
Stubkjaer has been at the head of the 430,000-member Diocese of Viborg in Central Jutland since 2014. In his introductory speech on Friday, the 61-year-old emphasized the importance of service to people in need of help (diakonia) for the Lutherans around the world. Before assuming the episcopate, Stubkjaer headed the Aarhus Diakoniehochschule. From 2005 to 2014 he was General Secretary of the Danish aid organization “DanChurchAid” and board member of the “Act Alliance”; The German Protestant organization “Bread for the World” also belongs to the international association of humanitarian organizations. In addition to his theology studies, Stubkjaer also completed a degree in NGO management at Copenhagen Business School. He is married and has four adult children.
The chairman of the German National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation, the former Württemberg regional bishop Frank Otfried July, praised Stubkjaer as an “intelligent theologian, committed deacon and convinced ecumenist”. With his biography and his commitment, he emphasizes “the unity of theological and humanitarian work that is so important to the LWF”.