Jerry Pillay is the current (since 2023) General Secretary of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

. He is a

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

, member of the

Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa The Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) was formed in 1999 through the union of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (RPCSA) and the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa (PCSA). Both churches shared a comm ...

, former professor of theology at the

University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...

where he heads the Department of History and Ecclesiology and was Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Religion. He was elected president of the

World Communion of Reformed Churches The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Reformed (Calvinist) churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations (227 members and three associate or affiliate members) in 108 countries, together claiming ...

(WCRC) in 2010 and, in June 2022, General Secretary of the

(WCC), to take office on 1 January 2023.

Biography

Pillay was born in 1965 into a family of Indian origin who had been in South Africa for five generations. With a pastoral vocation from childhood, he holds a Bachelor of Divinity (Honours) from the University of Durban-Westville (1986), a Master of Arts in Missiology and Church History from the University of Durban-Westville (1988) and a

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Church History and New Testament from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

(2002) focused on social development. Initially a proposing pastor at McDonald Memorial Presbyterian Church in

Amanzimtoti Amanzimtoti, locally nicknamed Toti, and officially renamed to eManzimtoti, is a coastal town just south of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Situated along the Sapphire Coast, the town is well known for its warm climate and numerous beach ...

from 1987 to 1989, he then served as pastor at Lotus Park Presbyterian Church in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, then at Bridgetown Presbyterian Church in

Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

, then at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in

Benoni Benoni may refer to: Places * Benoni, Gauteng, a town in the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, in the East Rand region of Gauteng province in South Africa * Benoni, a barangay in Mahinog, Camiguin, Philippines People * Benoni (given name), a ...

from 1998 to 2008. After serving as moderator and then general secretary of the United Presbyterian Church of South Africa, a member of the central committee of the

South African Council of Churches The South African Council of Churches (SACC) is an interdenominational forum in South Africa. It was a prominent anti-apartheid organisation during the years of apartheid in South Africa. Its leaders have included Desmond Tutu, Beyers Naudé ...

(SACC), he was elected president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) on 24 June 2010. He is also a member of the

Council for World Mission The Council for World Mission (CWM) is a worldwide community of mainly Protestant Christian churches. The organisation works to spread the knowledge of Christ throughout the world and to strengthen their 32 members in their mission work by shar ...

(CWM), an international body based in London. On 17 June 2022, he was elected general secretary of the

(WCC).

Published works

Pillay is the author of some 30 articles, relating to church history, missiology, or other topics, published mostly between 2015 and 2021.See thi
list of Jerry Pillay's articles
o
this one

Distinctions

Pillay holds an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

in theology from the

University of Debrecen The University of Debrecen ( ) is a university located in Debrecen, Hungary. It is the oldest continuously operating institution of higher education in Hungary ever since its establishment in 1538. The university has a well established progra ...

in Hungary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pillay, Jerry South African people of Indian descent 1965 births Living people 21st-century Protestant theologians University of Cape Town alumni People of the World Council of Churches South African Protestant ministers and clergy South African Presbyterians World Communion of Reformed Churches