ULM, Germany (RNS/ENI) The Evangelical Church in Germany has elected Bishop Margot Kassmann to be its new leader, the first time a woman has become the highest representative of 24 million German Protestants.
The decision was made on Wednesday (Oct. 28) by the EKD’s highest governing body, its synod, meeting in Ulm, southern Germany.
Fifty-one-year-old Kassmann, who is divorced, is the youngest ever chairperson of the EKD council, and is the successor of Bishop Wolfgang Huber, who is retiring at the age of 67.
The EKD is the umbrella organization for 22 regional Lutheran, United and Reformed churches. It accounts for most of the country’s Protestant Christians.
Kassmann has been bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover since 1999.
The general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, the Rev. Ishmael Noko, praised Kassmann’s election.
“The election sends a signal to the church worldwide that God calls us to leadership without consideration of gender, color or descent,” said Noko, a Zimbabwean theologian.