Senior German pastor and current LWF Vice-President to assume the new role in 2024
(LWI) - German church leader Pröpstin Astrid Kleist has been appointed General Secretary of the German National Committee of The Lutheran World Federation (GNC/LWF). Selected by the GNC/LWF assembly, the 51-year-old will succeed Norbert Denecke, who is due to retire on 30 June 2024. Denecke has held the leadership position since 2004.
Since 2013, Kleist has been senior pastor at the main church of St. Jacobi in Hamburg and Pröpstin (provost) in the East Hamburg district of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany. Born in Hamburg, she studied Protestant theology in Bethel-Bielefeld, Berlin and Bochum. She has been a member of the LWF Council since 2013 and was elected Vice-President of the communion’s Central Western Europe region in 2017.
LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Anne Burghardt congratulated Kleist on her appointment, saying she was looking forward to fruitful cooperation with her in this new position. “Pröpstin Astrid Kleist has played an important role in the leadership of the LWF during her time as Vice-President and I am delighted that we can continue to work closely together, deepening ties between the LWF Communion Office in Geneva and the member churches in Germany.”
Bishop Emeritus Dr Frank Otfried July, GNC/LWF Chairperson, also expressed his delight at the appointment, saying that through her role as a Council member and Vice-President, Kleist “knows the LWF very well and is well connected worldwide. As senior pastor and provost in Hamburg, she has gained extensive experience in leadership and communication. With her, the German National Committee will gain a reliable, creative, and charismatic leader.”
