Rita Famos (born 1966) is a Swiss theologian. Since 2 November 2020, she has served as President of the

Protestant Church of Switzerland The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...

and is the first woman to hold this position.

Life and career

Rita Famos studied theology in

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

Halle Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hall ...

(GDR) and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

(USA). After her ordination, she worked as a parish priest in

Uster Uster (High Alemannic: ''Uschter'') is a town and the capital of the Uster District in the Swiss canton of Zürich. It is the third largest town in the canton of Zürich, with almost 35,000 inhabitants, and is one of the twenty largest towns ...

and Zurich-Enge. From 2009 to 2011, she was spokeswoman for the word on Sunday at

Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF; "Swiss Radio and Television") is a Swiss broadcasting company created on 1 January 2011 through the merger of radio company Schweizer Radio DRS (SR DRS) and television company Schweizer Fernsehen (SF). The ne ...

(SRF). Since 2013, she has been head of the department for special pastoral care at the

Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Zürich The Evangelical-Reformed Church of the Canton of Zürich is a Reformed State Church in Zürich. In 2004 it had 533,000 members and 179 parishes with 900 house fellowships and 520 ordained clergy. Official language is German. It is a member of the F ...

. Famos succeeded Gottfried Locher as President of the Protestant Church of Switzerland. He resigned in May 2020 after a complaint about abuse of power and "psychological and sexual violations of boundaries". After the turbulence surrounding Gottfried Locher, Famos is to lead the Evangelical Reformed Church out of the crisis as a beacon of hope. In interviews, she emphasized that she wanted to "establish a participatory leadership culture" and work towards the Reformed Church moving together. She is President of the Association for Couples Counseling and Mediation in the Canton of Zurich and a member of the program management for training and further education in pastoral care.

Personal life

Famos is married to the theologian and lawyer Cla Famos and has two children.

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Famos, Rita 1966 births Living people People from the canton of Bern 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed ministers 21st-century Calvinist and Reformed ministers 20th-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians 21st-century Calvinist and Reformed theologians Swiss Calvinist and Reformed ministers Women Christian clergy