People
Episcopal News Service. July 13, 1994 [94133V]
The Rev. Ishmael Nokowill be the first African to serve as the top executive of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The Zimbabwean was elected general secretary at a recent meeting of the LWF Council and will begin his new position on November 1. He is presently the director of the LWF department for mission and development. Noko said that the council's vote showed confidence in the churches of the south. Calling Martin Luther a "spiritual grandson of the Church in Africa," he said that the decision also reminded the churches in Africa that they have a contribution to make, that they 'are not grafted in this movement but they are part of it from time immemorial.'
The Rt. Rev. Michael Nazir-Ali, general secretary of the Church Missionary Society, was recently appointed Bishop of Rochester. Nazir-Ali will be the first non-white diocesan bishop in the Church of England. He moved to England from Pakistan in 1986 when he was appointed to Archbishop Runcie's staff to help with the planning of the 1988 Lambeth Conference. He is also a secretary of the Eames Commission, a member of the dialogue between Anglicans and Roman Catholics and the Church's Board of Mission.
The Rev. Graciella Alvares of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Mexico has been elected the first woman bishop in Latin America. Alvarez will succeed Bishop Ulises Hernandez in the Central Mexico District.