The National Council of Churches on Monday elected Peg Birk, a Congregational laywomanand executive management expert for an 18-month tenure as its Transitional General Secretary.

The NCC Governing Board, meeting in Chicago, unanimously elected Birk on Monday, the NCC said in a statement. A service of installation in her new position followed in the national offices of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

The election "signals that the National Council of Churches is ready for the kind of transformational change that will enliven us as an instrument of the ecumenical movement in the United States," said NCC President Kathryn M. Lohre, who served on the search committee.

"She is a respected professional in the field of change management, with a calling to interim leadership for transformative change, and a love of the church. This is precisely the kind of leader that the National Council of Churches needs as its Transitional General Secretary. I believe that Peg has been called to serve with us at this time, and I look forward to working alongside her, the Task Force, our leadership, and our exceptional staff in these 18 months."

Birk is a member of Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis, a congregation affiliated with the United Church of Christ. Birk, who is CEO of Minneapolis-based Interim Solutions, will take on the role described by the search committee as "a transitional leader in the role of General Secretary."

Birk is also an attorney and a former adjunct faculty member of the William Mitchell College in St. Paul, Minn.
Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, the former general secretary, stepped down at the beginning of the year for health reasons. NCC Deputy General Secretary Clare J. Chapman has been serving as Interim General Secretary since then.

Birk expressed "keen interest" in the position being offered, the NCC search committee said.

"I believe that my values, skills and experience … make me well suited for this position," she said.

Her experience includes:

- interim president for the Fund for Theological Education in 2009-2010.
- interim president of the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis, where she managed a 38-person staff and operations that included approving grants of about $90 million
- Senior vice president and general counsel of Federated Insurance Companies in Owatonna, Minn. From 1999 to 2005.
- City Attorney of St. Paul, Minn. From 1997 to 1998
- Currently serves on the Dean's advisory council at the University of Minnesota's Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, the Strozi Institute Advisory Board and the Beatitudes Society.
- She has previously held board positions at the McKnight Foundation, the Minnesota Early Learning foundation, the Hamline University board of trustees, the International Alliance of Executive Women, the Minnesota Women's Economic Roundtable board of directors and was co-chair of the Center for Religious Inquiry

Other members of the search committee are affiliated with:
- The Armenian Church in America
- The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
- The New Fire young adult network, a former NCC president
- The Orthodox Church in America
- The American Baptist Churches USA
- The Presbyterian Church (USA)
- The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
- The National Baptist Convention USA, Inc
- The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
- The African Methodist Episcopal Church
- The United Methodist Church