12 th General Assembly elects Rt Rev Lydia Neshangwe as new AACC President
After a highly contested election, the Rt Rev Lydia Neshangwe, a woman delegate from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA), emerged winner as the new AACC president with 65.71% of all the votes cast.
Rt Rev Dr. Lydia is an ordained minister from Zimbabwe where she ministers in a diverse congregation at St Columbas Presbyterian Church in the mountainous city of Mutare. She is the first black female Moderator of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA), a transnational denomination in four countries: South Africa, Zambia, DRC, and Zimbabwe. She is an ecumenist at heart and is currently the Moderator of the Council for World Mission (CWM), a global organization that brings together 32 church denominations from around the world. She serves as the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) Advisory Board, and the Zimbabwe Country Coordinator for Hope’s Promise, an orphan care organization.
According to the AACC constitution, the president is the official spokesperson of the fellowship, oversees the Planning for both the General and Executive Committee meetings in consultation with the General Secretary, promotes consensus building in order to reach amicable decisions and maintains unity amongst members of the General and Executive Committee.
This was the first time the AACC General Assembly elects a woman as the organization's president and Rt Rev Lydia Neshangwe becomes the first female president of the AACC since its foundation in 1963.
