United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany

The United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (German: Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands, VELKD) was founded on July 8, 1948, in Eisenach, Germany. Its total membership is 7.3 million people.^[1] All its member churches belong to the Protestant Church in Germany, with which it co-operates closely. In 2018 it has been reduced from an independent legal entity to an administrative unit within the larger Protestant Church in Germany.

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The seat of the VELKD is in Hanover. The leading bishop (German: Leitender Bischof) is Ralf Meister.

Leading Bishops of the VELKD

1948–1949: Wilhelm Henke
1949–1955: Hans Meiser
1955–1969: Johannes Lilje
1969–1975: Hans-Otto Wölber, Land Bishop of Hamburg
1975–1978: Eduard Lohse
1978–1981: Gerhard Heintze
1981–1990: Karlheinz Stoll
1990–1993: Gerhard Müller
1993–1999: Horst Hirschler
1999–2005: Hans Christian Knuth
2005–2011: Johannes Friedrich
2011-2018: Gerhard Ulrich
since 2018: Ralf Meister

President of the Church Office of the VELKD

1949-1963: Heinz Brunotte
1963-1967: Max Keller-Hüschemenger
1968-1976: Hugo Schnell
1976–1982: Günther Gaßmann
1983-2000: Friedrich-Otto Scharbau
2000-2015: Friedrich Hauschildt ( also Vice-President of the Office of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD), between 2007 and 2015)
2015-2023: Horst Gorski (also Vice-President of EKD between 2015 and 2023)^[2]
since 2023: Stephan Schaede (also Vice-President of EKD since 2023)^[3]

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United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany

Leading Bishops of the VELKD

President of the Church Office of the VELKD

Members

Sources

External links

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