The CLC Supports Augusta Victoria Hospital with £10k Donation

The Council of Lutheran Churches has decided to support each year one or two initiatives that go beyond our own Lutheran community in the UK. This year, a £10k donation was given to Augusta Victoria Hospital (AVH) in East Jerusalem via the LWF World Service.
Sieglinde Weinbrenner, representative of the The Lutheran World Federation Jerusalem Program, said that our donation to the Patients Assistance Fund helps the Lutheran World Federation in Jerusalem to sustain its work ‘…for hope and a future…’ by serving patients who often must rely on social assistance in order to have access to the life-saving, specialized care offered by the hospital. The Poor Fund supports AVH patients and their families with transportation, shelter, food, and psychosocial care. AVH continues to improve and expand its oncology, radiotherapy, dialysis and geriatric departments and plans to diversify its health services by adding new diagnostic tools and equipment to better serve the Palestinian people in need. AVH provides excellent care through its specialty centers, including a state-of-the-art cancer center, and serves rural communities through its mobile diabetes and mammography clinics. Some specialty services for kidney and cancer care provided by AVH are not otherwise available in the West Bank and Gaza. Since October 7th we do not receive patients from Gaza and at the moment, we are not able to treat oncology patients in Gaza. We hope we can resume our lifesaving treatment once the situation allows it.”
Dr Khadra Salami, pediatric oncologist, with a young patient who is being treated for cancer. Photo: LWF/Atta Jabr
More info about the LWF Jerusalem Program worldservice.lutheranworld.org/where-we-work/jerusalem.

CLC Newsletter in July

Here are the updates and events from the CLC and our Lutheran community:
* New Chair and General Secretary in Dialogue
* Task Force for CLC Website Revamp
* Trip to Wittenberg and other places of the Reformation
* Pride Month with London Parade Participation and Other Events
* Video Recording of the Baltic United Remembrance Service
* London Chinese Lutheran Church Anniversary

Read the newsletter here: https://mailchi.mp/426bf9f221eb/clc-news-9446671


A new General Secretary for CLC

CLC is very happy to announce that Rev Meelis Süld will become its next General Secretary.

Rev Meelis has been a member of CLC’s staff in his role as Outreach Manager for the last four years and is well known in the Lutheran, ecumenical and Christian journalistic community in the UK and beyond. He is also a pastor in the Lutheran Church in Great Britain, currently serving at St Anne’s Lutheran Church in London.

CLC’s new chairman, Mr. Per Jonsson, notes the importance of having an ordained General Secretary, as Per is lay, and of maintaining a good balance between lay and clergy people in leadership. Commenting on Rev Meelis’s journalistic background as broadcaster and religious editor, he noted: “We have to make ourselves known to the wider audience and tell them what we stand for and why we exist. Meelis’s background will be very helpful in that.”

Rev Meelis shared his excitement taking up the role of General Secretary. He says that his dream is for CLC to be known in UK society through a charitable initiative or a project that serves the whole Christian community or country: “I would like to see what our member churches would like to offer to the wider society. I think it is important that Lutherans are visible and known for their contribution to the public.”

You can hear more from Rev Meelis and Per in our next podcast episode where they reflect on their respective new roles in CLC.

CLC is looking forward to welcoming Rev Meelis in his new role. Please pray for him and for CLC in this period of transition.

Photo by Olev Mihkelmaa

Bishop Paulina Hławiczka-Trotman becomes the president of CTE’s 4th Presidency Group

Bishop Paulina Hławiczka-Trotman has been appointed as the new President for the Fourth Presidency Group of Churches Together in England (CTE). CTE General Secretary, Bishop Mike Royal, said: “Bishop Paulina has a proven track record of ecumenical engagement and an unswerving commitment to CTE’s Racial Justice Working Group. As the first female Polish Bishop in the UK, she is a trailblazer. We are excited about the ongoing journey with our Lutheran sisters and brothers”.
Until now, the role was filled by the CLC General Secretary Dr Anna Krauss, who has stepped down from the Presidency to take up the post of Director of the The Lutheran World Federation’s (LWF) Centre in Wittenberg, Germany.
Photo by Rev Meelis Süld

We are looking for our next General Secretary

The Council of Lutheran Churches is a representative and enabling body for Lutheran churches in the UK. We are looking for a full time General Secretary to lead and manage our people and financial resources to support our member churches and represent them in the wider ecumenical world in the UK.

We want someone who:

  • Has a good understanding of Lutheran theology and tradition– you must be an active Christian and although not necessary, it would be an advantage if you are ordained.
  • Has a leadership style that is relationship orientated and supportive as you will be working with churches and other organisations from different cultures.
  • Is a networker, bridge builder and enabler, able to strike up positive relationships quickly.
  • Is an experienced public speaker, with good written communications.
  • Is keen to learn and open-minded, ideally with experience of living and working in other cultures and with churches of different denominations.
  • Is financially literate, able to understand budget and accounts, assess grant applications from the Churches, understand and act on the Investment Managers’ reports and make recommendations to the Board of Trustees on actions they should take.
  • If you have experience of working in the UK charity sector that would be a bonus.

​We are based in London (Waterloo) and applicants must live within commuting distance of our office.

To apply, please email your CV to: david.rogers@lutheran.org.uk

Closing date for applications: 15th April 2024

No agencies please.

Please find the full job description for the General Secretary position available for download here: General Secretary Job Description.


CLC General Secretary Dr Anna Krauß Moves to LWF Wittenberg Centre

After three fruitful years at the Council of Lutheran Churches (CLC), we announce the departure of our General Secretary Dr Anna Krauß. From September, she will take up the post of Director of the Lutheran World Federation’s (LWF) Centre in Wittenberg.

Dr Anna Krauß says, “I have loved my time at CLC and the Lutheran community in the UK will always hold a special place in my heart. I leave CLC after a period of transition has come to its end and it is time to move on for me. I look forward to the new tasks in Wittenberg.”

The Chair of the CLC, Bishop Tor B. Jørgensen, shared that having Dr Anna Krauß as the General Secretary for three years has been a pleasure. “She has done an important job in securing the future work of the council, and in that short time, she has become well-recognised ecumenically in the UK and internationally, especially within the Lutheran community. Also, taking on the roles of Churches Together in England’s President for the 4th Presidency Group and a Member of the LWF Council as the representative of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain. We greet her in the new role at the LWF centre in Wittenberg and look forward to continuing our collaboration in this new setting.”

The LWF centre in Wittenberg organises theological training and conferences for the LWF’s 150 member churches, welcomes visitors from across the world and oversees some ecumenical projects.