This week the 2014 brotherhood council of the Servants of the Word re-elected Ken Noecker as presiding elder for another four-year term (starting next August) Ken was born on 1st February 1953 in Nebraska. He holds a BA in philosophy and a Master’s degree in theology. He met community in 1974 and made his lifelong commitment the Servants of the Word in 1983. For a number of years Ken served in different ones of our university outreaches before moving to the Philippines in 1986. He lived in Manila for the following 25 years, leading the brotherhood there, being a coordinator in the community and spearheading community building around Asia. He also got his MA in theology there. In 2011, upon being elected as presiding elder the previous year, Ken relocated to the United States, but he continues to travel extensively around the world, to visit the various houses of the brotherhood, for the community building work in India which he still oversees, and as a member of the International Executive Council of the Sword of the Spirit.
Asked for his first thoughts upon his re-election, Ken said, paraphrasing John 21: “I am called to go where I might not choose to go. But I am also called to sometimes ask other brothers to take on assignments they would prefer not to. May God give us all grace to continue to lay down our lives“.
