Nigerian archbishop Filibus elected head of Lutheran church:
A Nigerian archbishop has become president of the Lutheran church.
Archbishop Musa Panti Filibus was elected as head of the Lutheran World Federation on Saturday at an assembly held in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia.
I was all like, wait, what? I attend a church in the Missouri Synod, and I know there are state leaders and whatnot, but an international president? I’d never heard of such a thing.
Because this fellow is the head of an umbrella organization, not a “church” but a collection of churches. In the United States, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is part of the Lutheran World Federation, but the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (yes, both places I have lived have their own synods). These last are more conservative denominations.
So it’s like calling António Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations the Secretary General of the world.
But calling this fellow the head of THE Lutheran Church is good enough for journalism work. Which is below the level set by the government these days.
