Germany: Bishop Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt to chair National Committee

6 Jun 2023

The Assembly of the German National Committee of The Lutheran World Federation has elected Bishop Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt as its new chairperson. She will take office in December.

As of December 2023, Bishop Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt will chair the German National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation (GNC/LWF). Photo: Nordkirche/Thomas Müller

As of December 2023, Bishop Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt will chair the German National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation (GNC/LWF). Photo: Nordkirche/Thomas Müller

German National Committee elects new governance

(LWI) - As of December 2023, Bishop Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt will chair the German National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation (GNC/LWF). Kühnbaum-Schmidt is the presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany and will succeed bishop em. Frank Otfried July from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Württemberg. July has chaired the GNC/LWF since 2018.

“I am grateful for the trust placed in me,” said Kühnbaum-Schmidt after her election on 5 June. “The GNC/LWF, with its eleven member churches, is a valuable part of the LWF and, simultaneously, just an excerpt of the global Lutheran communion. We are committed to a just, peaceful and reconciled world and support the theological, missionary, diaconal and humanitarian work of the LWF. As chair of the GNC/LWF, I want to contribute to that.”

“My warmest congratulations to Bishop Kristina Kühnbaum-Schmidt on her election as the new GNC/LWF chair. I wish her much strength, wisdom, joy, and above all, God's blessing in carrying out holistic mission for the Lutheran communion in Germany and beyond,” said Rev. Dr. Ireneusz Lukas, LWF’s Regional Secretary for Europe.

Kühnbaum-Schmidt will be installed during a worship service in Hanover, Germany, on 11 December.

LWF/A. Weyermüller