The Alliance has agreed to appoint a team of three to coordinate preparations for the 24th general council. Two of the coordinators will be based in Geneva, the third in Accra.

Douglas L Chial, a 32-year-old lay member of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and assistant coordinator for the 23rd general council, has been named as one of the Geneva coordinators and will start work in July 2001. He is currently working with the World Council of Churches as a web editor.

"In a world in which young people are often sidelined with the excuse that they lack experience, we have in Doug a young person with the experience we need," says WARC general secretary, Rev Dr Setri Nyomi.

"It is rare to find someone who combines theological depth with a good knowledge of the new technologies. Doug exhibits great competence in both these areas."

Interviews for the Ghana-based coordinator will take place in March 2001, with the successful candidate expected to take up the post in May 2001.

The third member of the team is Hartmut Lucke, currently secretary for international relations in the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches, relating with partners - mostly within the Reformed family - from China to North America, Africa to Australia. He will start work in Geneva in July 2002.

"Born in Berlin, Hartmut brings a personal consciousness of the impact of the past east-west divide," Nyomi says of him. "He has worked closely with many of the ecumenical organizations to which we relate. As an ordained minister with more than 35 years' experience of relating to churches in both south and north, he brings theological depth which we will need in planning the general council."