The participants of the 59th National Conference of the IELB elected, on 20 April, Rev. Paulo Moisés Nerbas to be the President of the church for the next four years. There were five candidates for the presidency: Carlos Walter Winterle, Leopoldo Heimann, Martinho Fach, Martinho Sonntag and Paulo Moisés Nerbas. Pastors Winterle and Nerbas then disputed a second round election, in which Nerbas got 261 votes against 247 from Winterle, a tiny difference of 14 votes.

Visibly touched, Paulo Moisés Nerbas saluted the 59th National Conference and said that "the church has chosen a pastor to be its new President". Similarly to what Winterle has always said during his time as the President of the IELB, Nerbas emphasized that the leader of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil has to be like a pastor to the members of his congregation. He finished his speech mentioning the Catholic Pope Benedict XVI, who said, "May God allow me to be kind and firm in my pastoral ways."

Nerbas has been a Theology professor at Concordia Seminary in São Leopoldo, RS, for 14 years. He is married to Helena Nerbas and he has three children: Camila, Paula and Rafael. Rafael is a pastor in Parobé, RS, and is married to Patrícia.