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First Woman Elected to Lead the Protestant Church in Germany
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- Bishop Margot Käßmann before a service in the Marktkirche church in Hannover in 2006 - a decade after she first became a bishop.
- (© dpa - Bildfunk)
For the first time ever, the most important ministry in the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD) will now be occupied by a woman.
The 51-year old Hannover-based Bishop Margo Käßmann was voted into the position on October 28 in Ulm, Germany, with 132 of 142 votes cast by the EKD. Her position is expected to give the Church a new spirituality, especially among young people.
With only five synods voting against Käßmann, four abstentions and one invalid vote cast, her election is seen as a validation of her spiritual and organizational leadership. In response to her election, Käßmann told the media: "Trusting in God's help, I accept the election".
The small woman from Marburg an der Land who has since 1996 represented the northern state of Lower Saxony as its Protestant bishop is now the most senior representative of the 25 million protestants living in Germany. For months Käßman has been followed by the press and questioned about her possible role as head of the EKD, questions she usually shook off.
With her election as head of the EKD, Käßmann becomes the first woman to reach the top of Germany's largest Protestant Church - the Lutheran Church founded by Martin Luther.
Käßmann likely to bring spirituality and humanism to her role
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- After being elected new head of the Protestant Church of Germany (EKD), Bishop Margot Käßmann was congratulated by her predecessor, Bishop Wolfgang Huber.
- (© dpa - Report)
Despite the reduction in followers in what is Germany's largest religious community, Käßmann's election is seen as part of the EKD's modernization process. As successor to the popular Bishop Wolfgang Huber, Käßmann will be charged with carrying out the Church reforms begun by her predecessor. She will also be responsible for uniting the regional churches, establishing new congregations, and reversing the trend in declining church membership.
The new leader will also have to manage relations with Muslim leaders in Germany, as well as the ecumenical movement within the EKD that is critical of Pope Benedict XVI. She is also predicted to revitalize the human face of the Protestant Church in Germany, carrying with her a unique presence that puts her at ease before media and low-profile meetings with her parishioners.
Her predecessor Wolfgang Huber was particularly adept in media relations and strengthened the socio-political role of the EKD. He leaves, however, without having completed the reorganization of the country's Protestant churches. Commentators predict that Käßmann's leadership will also bring about a transformation of the Church's internal structures.
Self-confident Protestantism that projects openness
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- Bishop Margot Käßmann and renowned German actor Ben Becker hold up a bible together at a September 2008 press conference in Hannover announcing a German TV special in which they read texts by Martin Luther.
- (© dpa - Report)
She is also known for her rather open approach to religious studies. While leading Confirmation classes, she is said to have given her opinion more often on topics related to religious sects and even drugs than the Bible. In Protestant Kindergartens, they told Biblical stories in addition to singing religious songs.
She has argued for a stronger spiritual role in religious institutions, for children and adults to pray more, and for churches to appear more like churches and less like simple community centers. She is said to embody a kind of self-confident Protestantism that projects warmth and openness.
Käßmann, who has long advocated for more spirituality in the Church, is also known to be a very devout Christian. Although her divorce in 2007 caused some commotion, the editor in chief of the Protestant News Agency IDEA, Helmut Mathies, came to her defense, writing that divorce should "no longer be taboo".
Thus, Margot Käßmann assumes her new position well-liked by all sides in the EKD, but with much work ahead.
