The World Evangelical Alliance has announced the appointment of Advocate Botrus Mansour as its new secretary general and chief executive officer, making him the first Arab Christian leader to head the global organization.
Mansour, who is an Arab-Israeli of Palestinian heritage from Nazareth, is scheduled to officially assume his new role at the WEA’s upcoming General Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, set for October 27–31, 2025.
The selection process lasted six months and involved an international search that began with 25 applicants. It was narrowed down to three finalists before Mansour was chosen by a majority vote of the WEA’s International Council.
Since March 31, 2023, the organization has been without a permanent Secretary General, following the resignation of former leader Thomas Schirrmacher due to health reasons. Since then, Council Chair Dr. Goodwill Shana has been serving in an interim capacity.
Mansour expressed his humility regarding the appointment, stating, “I am deeply humbled by the IC’s choice and trust in me, and I am acutely aware of the immense responsibility it carries. I am keenly aware that this will need hearts, minds and hands to join together across the global WEA family,” he said.
Born in Nazareth in 1965, Mansour spent his childhood years living in Jerusalem, Oxford in the United Kingdom, and again in Nazareth later on. He came to Christian faith during his high school years.
After graduating from Nazareth Baptist School, he pursued law studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and graduated in 1991. He was admitted to the Israeli Bar Association in 1993 and practiced law in Haifa and Nazareth. In 2009, Mansour completed an MBA in nonprofit management at Haifa University, further expanding his qualifications.
In 1996, he co-founded the Local Baptist Church in Nazareth and was ordained as an elder in 2001. Since 2004, he has been serving as the operational director of Nazareth Baptist School, a role he continues to hold today.
His leadership experience includes chairing the Convention of Evangelical Churches in Israel. He has also served as secretary and chair of the Alliance of Evangelical Conventions in Jordan and the Holy Land and acted as deputy chair of the Nazareth Village board.
Additionally, Mansour has been a member of the Global Council of Advocates International and a co-chair of the Lausanne Initiative for Reconciliation in Israel-Palestine.
The Convention of Evangelical Churches in Israel, once chaired by Mansour, is one of the three national member bodies of the WEA in the Holy Land. The others are the Evangelical Alliance of Israel and the Council of Local Evangelical Churches in the Holy Land, which represents the Palestinian territories.
He and his wife, A’bir, are parents to three adult children and reside in Nazareth.
