Heinrich Bedford-Strohm (born 30 March 1960 in

Memmingen Memmingen (; Swabian: ''Memmenge'') is a town in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is the economic, educational and administrative centre of the Danube-Iller region. To the west the town is flanked by the Iller, the river that marks the Baden-Wü ...

) is a German

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Life

His father was a Lutheran priest in Memmingen. Bedford-Strohm studied Lutheran

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative d ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

and

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

. In 1997, he became a pastor. From 2004 until 2011, he worked at the

University of Bamberg The University of Bamberg (german: Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg) in Bamberg, Germany, specializes in the humanities, cultural studies, social sciences, economics, and applied computer science. Campus The university is mainly housed in ...

. In 2011, he became bishop of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (german: Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern) is a Lutheran member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany in the German state of Bavaria. The seat of the church is in Munich. The ''Landesbischof' ...

. Since 2014, he is the chairman of the council of

Evangelical Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheranism, Lutheran, Continental Reformed church, Reformed (Calvinism, Calvinist) and united and uniting churches, United ( ...

, succeeding Nikolaus Schneider. In 1985, he married Deborah Bedford and they had three sons.

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, . (Zugleich: Heidelberg, Universität, Habilitations-Schrift, 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 The Bavarian Order of Merit (german: Bayerischer Verdienstorden) is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria ...

* 2019: ''Oswald von Nell-Breuning Award''

References

External links

EKD.de: Heinrich Bedford-Strohm (German)
*
Inhaber 2004–2011 Lehrstuhl für Evangelische Theologie (Systematische Theologie und theologische Gegenwartsfragen) University Bamberg

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria: Heinrich Bedford-Strohm

Website by Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria: Heinrich Bedford-Strohm

Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Forschungsstelle für Öffentliche Theologie
21st-century German Lutheran bishops German Lutheran theologians 1960 births People from Memmingen Presidents of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany Academic staff of the University of Bamberg Living people {{Germany-reli-bio-stub