The Synod of the North German Evangelical Lutheran Church region, gathering in Lübeck on 27 September this year, elected the bishop of the Thuringia region, Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt, as the regional bishop of the North German Evangelical Lutheran Church. Henceforth the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany will be led by three women, since the other two, namely the churches of Westphalia and the Central German region, are also led by women. Kühnbaum-Schmidt will take up the new office on 1 April 2019. She will succeed regional bishop Gerhard Ulrich (aged 67), who plans to retire in March 2019.
Already in the first round of voting in Lübeck Cathedral, Kühnbaum-Schmidt obtained 90 votes; 79 votes were required. Behind her came the other candidate, the Hamburg dean Karl Heinrich Melzer, who obtained 56 votes in the voting. In total, 150 of the 156 with voting rights took part in the voting. Four abstained. On 10 June 2019 Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt will be installed in office in Schwerin Cathedral.
Source: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland 28.09.2018. NEWS
Photo: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland
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