{{Short description|South-African Reformed pastor (born 1965)}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Priest | name = Jerry Pillay | honorific_prefix = The Reverend | title = General Secretary, the United Presbyterian Church of South Africa | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = Pillay in 2022 | church = Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa | province = | other_post = President, the World Communion of Reformed Churches<br />General Secretary, World Council of Churches from January 2023 | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1965}} | birth_place = South Africa | alma_mater = University of Durban-Westville<br />University of Cape Town | denomination = Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa }} '''Jerry Pillay''' is the current (since 2023) General Secretary of the World Council of Churches. He is a Reformed pastor, member of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, former professor of theology at the University of Pretoria where he heads the Department of History and Ecclesiology and was Dean of the Faculty of Theology and Religion.<ref name=Cathch>{{cite web|language=fr|title=South African Jerry Pillay elected new WCC General Secretary |website=www.cath.ch/|url=https://www.cath.ch/newsf/le-sud-africain-jerry-pillay-elu-nouveau-secretaire-general-du-coe/|access-date=19 June 2022}}</ref> He was elected president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) in 2010 and, in June 2022, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC),<ref name=WCC>{{cite web|title=Newly elected WCC general secretary believes that growing up in South Africa will help him in his approach to conflict and suffering|website=the World Council of Churches|url=https://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/wcc-general-secretary-elect-believes-growing-up-in-south-africa-will-help-his-approach-to-conflict-and-suffering|access-date=19 June 2022}}{{Dead link|date=January 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> taking office on 1 January 2023.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rev. Dr Jerry Pillay (Presbyterian Church) Beats Dr Elizabeth Joy (Malankara Orthodox Church) to Become the New WCC General Secretary|website=ocpsociety.org/|date=17 June 2022 |url=https://ocpsociety.org/rev-dr-jerry-pillay-presbyterian-church-beats-dr-elizabeth-joy-malankara-orthodox-church-to-become-the-new-wcc-general-secretary/|access-date=19 June 2022}}</ref>

== Biography == Pillay was born in 1965 into a family of Indian origin who had been in South Africa for five generations.<ref name=WCC/>

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 in Church History and New Testament from the University of Cape Town (2002)<ref name=ocps>{{cite web|language=en|title=Prof Jerry Pillay inaugurated|website=University of Pretoria|url=https://www.up.ac.za/faculty-of-theology-and-religion/news/post_2558152-prof-jerry-pillay-inaugurated|access-date=19 June 2022}}</ref> focused on social development.<ref name=Cathch/>

Initially a proposing pastor at McDonald Memorial Presbyterian Church in Amanzimtoti from 1987 to 1989, he then served as pastor at Lotus Park Presbyterian Church in Durban, then at Bridgetown Presbyterian Church in Cape, then at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Benoni from 1998 to 2008.<ref name=ocps/>

After serving as moderator and then general secretary of the Uniting Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa, a member of the central committee of the South African Council of Churches (SACC), he was elected president of the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) on 24 June 2010.<ref name=REFCH>{{cite web|language=fr|title=A first South African president for WCRC|website=reformes.ch/|date=24 June 2010|url=https://www.reformes.ch/201006255316/5316-un-premier-president-sud-africain-pour-la-cmer.html|access-date=19 June 2022}}</ref> He is also a member of the Council for World Mission (CWM), an international body based in London.{{failed verification|date=April 2025}}<ref name=ocps/>

On 17 June 2022, he was elected general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC).<ref name=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.<ref>See this [https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5188-3550 list of Jerry Pillay's articles], or [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jerry-Pillay this one].</ref>

== Distinctions == Pillay holds an honorary doctorate in theology from the University of Debrecen in Hungary.<ref name=ocps/>

== References == {{Portal|Christianity|South Africa}} {{Reflist}}

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