Eleven months after the resignation of World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Secretary General Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher for health reasons on March 31, 2024, the global evangelical body announced today (Feb. 26) that the search for its next leader is underway. According to a prayer update sent by Executive Chair Rev. Dr. Goodwill Shana, the new Secretary General is expected to be introduced at the upcoming General Assembly in October in Seoul, Korea.
“As you are aware, that the International Council had in 2025 resolved to initiate a Search Process for the next Secretary General of the WEA and had put in place an executive interim arrangement pending the appointment of a successful candidate,” Shana writes as he addresses the “WEA family”.
He explains that WEA’s board, the International Council (IC), outlined a recruitment process to identify “the person of God’s choice to lead us into the future.”
The IC’s Human Resource Committee set up a Search Committee comprised of the HR committee itself, a General Secretary of one of the Regional Evangelical Alliances, some members of the Senior Leadership Team “and others”, with Terms of Reference and process schedule confirmed as well, the announcement says.
“With the Search Committee in place I am glad to inform you that the Search Process is now truly underway,” Shana writes, adding that detailed information on how to apply will be sent to leaders of regional and national Evangelical Alliances “and the WEA family” in due course.
“It is envisaged that this process would be completed in time for the new Secretary General to be introduced at the 2025 General Assembly in Seoul, South Korea,” he says, while calling for prayers and support for this “very significant step for the WEA and its future.”
Initially, the WEA said in a since-deleted press release that a new Secretary General would be appointed within six months following Schirrmacher’s resignation with Shana serving in the interim as Executive Chair, combining the role of board chair and Secretary General.
In a later announcement, however, the WEA announced that the IC decided on Sep. 3, 2024, to extend Shana’s role by another year until the General Assembly in Korea. “At that time his membership of the International Council will have ended, having completed his mandatory maximum two terms on the Council,” the statement said.
Update Feb. 28, 2025:
In a follow-up announcement on Feb. 28, the WEA outlined the expectations towards the Secretary General and provided the job description and application information.
"The Secretary General is overall responsible for the World Evangelical Alliance. He / she leads a global staff team engaged in fulfilling WEA’s Roadmap 2030 with four strategic priorities: Strong Evangelical Alliances, Influential Voice of Advocacy, Fruitful and Broad Collaboration and Effective Organizational Structures," the WEA writes.
It also offered the following list of expected character traits:
The Secretary General (SG)
is a humble person
has unquestioned moral integrity
is above reproach
has a strong sense of divine calling to the SG position
is compassionate
has a satisfactory family situation
is Spirit-filled
is a servant leader
is gracious towards others
is not puffed up
has a history of spiritual discipline
shows grace to others
is a person of prayer and Bible study
has a generous spirit
has a right attitude to money
demonstrates spiritual maturity.
"The Secretary General is appointed by, and reports to, the WEA International Council (through its Chair and Executive Committee)—comprising representatives of regions around the world," the WEA continues and says they "invite nominations of suitable candidates as well as individual applications to this position."
Nominations and applications should be sent to searchSG@worldea.org by May 31, 2025.
