The International Federation of Free Evangelical Churches (IFFEC) has named a new leadership pair. Thomas Schech, 53, who chairs the board of the German Alliance Mission (Allianz-Mission), was elected general secretary by the federation's general assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, and took up the office in October 2026. He succeeds Øyvind Haraldseid of Norway. The same assembly elected Tammy Swanson-Draheim, president of the Evangelical Covenant Church in the United States, as IFFEC president in place of John Nielsen of Denmark.
Swanson-Draheim is an ordained pastor and has led the Evangelical Covenant Church since 2022 as the first woman to head that denomination; she has previously served as a congregational pastor and a regional leader. IFFEC was founded in 1948 in Bern as a reconciliation project, and traces its international cooperation back to conferences in Gothenburg in 1934, Prague in 1936 and Malmö in 1946. It today links free evangelical federations across more than 30 countries with roughly 700,000 members, and states its aim as strengthening congregations, equipping workers and sharing in God's mission worldwide.
Schech said his priority for the coming four years is to extend the network towards Asia and above all Africa. "The history of IFFEC is strongly connected with Europe and the USA; now we stand at the threshold of a genuinely global network," he said. He described IFFEC as a chance to live out a Christ-centred community of values among federations, adding that putting that into practice is demanding because members come from very different regions, languages, life contexts and economic circumstances. The general secretary carries responsibility for the operational work of the network, supports its committees and works closely with the president and the executive committee.
(Originally published in German. Summary translated by CC / Connexion.)
Source: Bund Freier evangelischer Gemeinden (FeG Germany) / IFFEC — feg.de
