Nov 21, 2013 10:25 GMT Wanja Lundby-Wedin elected to presiding committee of Church Board Caption: Wanja Lundby-Wedin will be the first vice-chair of the Central Board of the Church of Sweden in 2014–2017. Photo: Ewa Almqvist/IKON The General Synod, currently convened in Uppsala, continued its election meeting today. A new Central Board for the 2014–2017 term of office was elected, with Wanja Lundby-Wedin (S*) and Mats Hagelin (BA*) in the presiding committee. The new presiding committee of the Central Board of the Church of Sweden was elected today. Wanja Lundby-Wedin (S*), from the Diocese of Stockholm, was elected first vice-chair and Mats Hagelin (BA*), from the Diocese of Lund, was elected second vice-chair. The Central Board is the Church of Sweden’s highest responsible body when the General Synod is not in session. The Central Board makes decisions on general issues at national level and represents the Church of Sweden. The Archbishop chairs the board. For pictures of Wanja Lundby-Wedin and Mats Hagelin see the appendices in the press release. Press images from the General Synod are available at www.svenskakyrkan.se/fotoweb – log in with the user name press and password press. The following members were elected to the other positions on the Central Board of the Church of Sweden (the abbreviations are explained below the table): Lars Johnsson S Strängnäs Marta Axner S Uppsala Olle Burell S Stockholm Birgitta Halvarsson S Karlstad Anna Lundblad Mårtensson POSK Linköping Nils Gårder POSK Lund Erik Sjöstrand POSK Uppsala Cecilia Brinck BA Stockholm Sven Kragh C Karlstad Ulla Rickardsson C Gothenburg Karl-Gunnar Svensson KR Gothenburg Erik Muhl ÖKA Gothenburg Deputies: Archbishop’s deputy: Per Eckerdal Birger Wernersson S Lund Britt Sandström S Västerås Göran Karlsson S Gothenburg Margareta Carlenius S Linköping Tommy Eriksson S Härnösand Katarina Wedin POSK Luleå Sofia Särdquist POSK Skara Helena Nordvall BA Luleå Margareta Nisser-Larsson BA Karlstad Lars-Ivar Eriksson C Luleå Margareta Andersson C Växjö Georg Lagerberg FiSK Stockholm Dag Sandahl FK Växjö Ylva Wahlström MPSK Stockholm The General Synod for 2014–2017 met in Uppsala yesterday evening in advance of its term of office to elect a new presiding committee and discuss other matters. The election meeting was concluded today. The General Synod’s ordinary meeting and the first meeting of the term of office will take place in Uppsala in September 2014. *Key to abbreviations: S = the Swedish Social Democratic Party POSK = Non-politically affiliated members of the Church of Sweden BA = A nomination group for centre/right voters that is not affiliated to a political party C = the Centre Party of Sweden KR = Christian Democrats of Sweden in the Church of Sweden ÖKA = Open church – a church for everyone FiSK = Free liberals in the Church of Sweden FK = Frimodig kyrka, literally: an open and outspoken church MPSK = Members of the Swedish Green Party in the Church of Sweden Facts about the General Synod 2014–2017Election results and the distribution of seats in the General Synod are available here (in Swedish). The 251 members comprise 125 women and 126 men; 121 of the members are new and 130 have been re-elected. The average age of the members is 54. The youngest is Jesper Eneroth, from Kronoberg in the Diocese of Växjö, who was born in 1995. The oldest is Torgny Larsson, from Gothenburg, who was born in 1938. Contacts Daniel Bramsell Press Contact Press secretary Archbishop Antje Jackelén [email protected] +46-18-16 94 19 +46-72-237 28 86 Ewa Almqvist Press Contact Press secretary [email protected] +46-18-16 96 77 +46-70-546 96 77 Stefan Håkansson Press Contact Press secretary [email protected] +46-18-16 94 20 +46-768-00 01 02 Lotten Andersson Press Contact Head of Media [email protected] +46-18-16 97 95 +46-70-549 97 95.