General Secretary - Rev. Dr Martin Junge (2010-2021)

Our General Secretary, Rev. Dr Martin Junge, was the first Latin American to hold this office.

He was elected by the LWF Council at its 2009 meeting and assumed office on 1 November 2010. He was appointed by the LWF Council for a second term as General Secretary from 2017. He concluded his term on 31 October 2021.

The former president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chile served as LWF Area Secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean in the Department for Mission and Development from 2000 until 2010.

• Reformation anniversary, including ecumenical work 
• Response to increase of refugees to 2,5 million 
• Gender Justice Policy implementation 
• Youth participation and inclusion 

Rev. Dr Junge was a steward at the LWF Eighth Assembly and a delegate to the LWF Ninth Assembly.

He received an Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and an Honorary Doctor in Laws Degree from the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, USA, and he has been awarded the 2017 Augsburg Peace Prize. In June 2018 Rev. Junge received St. Henry’s Cross, the highest honour awarded by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.