Ishmael Noko
Ishmael Noko ( born October 29, 1943 at what was then Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe ) is a Lutheran theologian and since 1994 the General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF).
Life
Noko studied theology at the University of South Africa in Pretoria and at the University of Zululand. He was ordained in 1972 and studied in Canada at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on, where in 1974 he took a Master's degree. In 1977 he received his doctorate at McGill University in Quebec City. From 1977 taught Noko theology at the University of Botswana, before 1982, he joined the Lutheran World Federation, where he took over the Department of refugee issues in the Department of World Service. The Department of Church Cooperation, he took over 1987. 1990 he became head of the Department for Mission and Development.
In June 1994, Noko was elected the first African General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation. He was confirmed in office in 1997 and 2004. In 1999 he was involved in the signing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification between the Catholic and Protestant church in Augsburg. On 31 October 2010 Noko finished as Secretary General and passes on the office to the newly elected and coming from Chile Lutheran Pastor Martin Junge.
Honors
- Honorary doctorate from the Westfälische Wilhelms -Universität Münster (2010)