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By Teresia Mutuku, Communications Officer and Web Manager, WACC 
| | The Rev. Karin Achtelstetter, was installed new General Secretary of the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), Tuesday, October 5, during its annual Executive committee meeting held in Toronto, Canada.
“Celebrating and giving thanks for communication leadership in its many expressions reminds us of WACC’s history and its uniqueness… this reminds us where we come from, enables us to reflect on our present and prepares us for the future,” said Achtelstetter in her inauguration speech.
| The Rev. Karin Achtelstetter (Photo by Richard Choe, for WACC)
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Citing the “Ubuntu” concept: “I am what I am because of who we all are”, she noted that her role as the new General Secretary of WACC will be “shaped by the encounters, the exchanges and the relationships with the people in the many networks and projects to which WACC is related.”
“I cannot think of a better word that could describe my feelings and thoughts as I take the first steps in my new ministry”, she said.
Achtelstetter was elected General Secretary of WACC in July 2010, and joined the WACC staff in Toronto, Canada, October 1, 2010. She will take up full responsibility as General Secretary, November 1st.
The installation ceremony was presided over by WACC President, Dennis Smith and attended by former General Secretaries; the Rev. Randy Naylor and The Rev. Carlos Valle, WACC’s Executive committee members, staff and friends of WACC. She thanked the two former General Secretaries for their collegial friendship and asked for their support in her endeavor as the new General Secretary.
Valle was awarded Honorary Life Membership of WACC during the ceremony. The Life Membership is awarded to individuals who have significantly upheld WACC’s Christian Principles of Communication. (See details here...)
Congratulating Achtelstetter upon her installation, Smith said “We are proud that Rev. Karin is not only enormously qualified for the job, she is also the first woman to serve as the General Secretary of our Association”.
He assured her of unwavering support from the WACCglobal members around the world. “All the WACCglobal family is ready to walk with you as you walk with us in discerning how best to live out the Christian principles of communication”.
Achtelstetter is the former Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Lutheran World Federation, and former Coordinator of the Public Information Team & Media Relations Officer of the World Council of Churches, both based in Geneva. She has served on the WACC Europe Executive committee and WACC Board of Directors.
Born in Schwabach, Germany, Achtelstetter holds a Masters in Theology and Bachelor of Arts from the Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen, Germany as well as a Master of Arts in Women’s Studies from the University of Kent at Canterbury, England. She also has a diploma in International leadership, with a focus on organizational development, from the Craighead Institute, Glasgow and The Grubb Institute, London.
She was ordained to the ministry of word and sacrament of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria in January 2010 and has served as an occasional lecturer in the Department for Practical Theology, Christian Communication Unit, Faculty of Theology, Friedrich-Alexander University.
Achtelstetter speaks multiple languages including German, English, French and Spanish.
Below: more photos by Richard Choe, for WACC... 
| The Rev. Karin Achtelstetter delivers her inauguration speech
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| | The Rev. Karin Achtelstetter | | |  | | Rev. Karin Achtelstetter being congratulated by Dennis Smith, WACC President | | |  | Rev. Karin Achtelstetter being congratulated by outgoing General Secretary,
Rev. Randy Naylor | | | 
| Left-right: Rev. Carlos Valle- former General Secretary, Rev. Karin Achtelstetter
and outgoing General Secretary, Rev. Randy Naylor | | |  | Left-right: Rev. Carlos Valle, Rev. Karin Achtelstetter, Rev. Randy Naylor
and Dennis Smith
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