Unlike their conservative Anglican counterparts, German protestants don't get the shakes at the idea of having a woman bishop. Margot Kaessmann received 132 of the 142 votes cast at the 10th synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). Bishop Kaessmann was previously the Lutheran bishop of Hanover. The Lutheran World Federation hailed her election:
"The election sends a signal to the Church worldwide that God calls us to leadership without consideration of gender, color or descent," said Rev. Ishmael Noko, general-secretary of the Lutheran World Federation.
Bishop Kaessmann is sometimes called the "pop bishop" because of her frequent appearances on television. She said after her election that she was striving for more social justice and attracting people to the faith by being a modern-day church.
Her election was heralded by We are Church, a reform group of Catholic laypeople who support women clergy. Kaessmann also has said she would like to improve relations with the Roman Catholic church. "I very much want to strengthen ecumenicism in our country," she has said.
Bishop Kaessmann is 51 years old, the mother of four daughters, and a breast cancer survivor. She is politically active and has a reputation for being a superb speaker and preacher. She is known as outspoken and tolerant, and also has a sense of humor. Apparently unfamiliar with Christianity in the United States, she has said, “Crabby Christians are a contradiction in themselves.”
The EKD was founded in 1945 as a multi-denominational federation of Lutheran, Reformed, and United Protestant church bodies. After Germany’s reunification, the EKD combined both East and West German Protestant churches in 1991.
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