Heinrich Bedford-Strohm

Heinrich Bedford-Strohm (born 30 March 1960 in Memmingen) is a German Lutheran bishop. Since September 2022 he is the Moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC).

Life His father was a Lutheran priest in Memmingen. Bedford-Strohm studied Lutheran theology at Erlangen, Heidelberg and Berkeley. In 1997, he became a pastor. From 2004 until 2011, he worked at the University of Bamberg. In 2011, he became bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria. From 2014 to 2021 he was the chairman of the council of Evangelical Church in Germany, succeeding Nikolaus Schneider.

After his retirement from the office in the Church in Bavaria, he was elected moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches at the General Assembly in Karlsruhe in September 2022. He succeeded Agnes Abuom who had held the office since 2013.

Works Vorrang für die Armen. Auf dem Weg zu einer theologischen Theorie der Gerechtigkeit. Gütersloher Verlags-Haus, Gütersloh 1993. (Heidelberg, Universität, Dissertation, 1992). Gemeinschaft aus kommunikativer Freiheit. Sozialer Zusammenhalt in der modernen Gesellschaft. Ein theologischer Beitrag. Gütersloher Verlags-Haus, Gütersloh 1999. (Heidelberg University, Habilitation thesis, 1998). Schöpfung (Ökumenische Studienhefte 12). Göttingen 2001. Position beziehen. Perspektiven einer öffentlichen Theologie, Munich 2012, Leben dürfen – Leben müssen. Argumente gegen die Sterbehilfe, Munich 2015. Funkenflug. Glaube neu entfacht. adeo, Aßlar 2015. mit-ge-fühl. Ein Plädoyer, Munich 2016 Alles ändert sich. Die Welt im Licht von Weihnachten. Patmos, Ostfildern, 2016.

Awards 2015: Hans Ehrenberg Award 2016: Herbert Haag Award 2017: Bavarian Order of Merit 2019: Oswald von Nell-Breuning Award