Ralf Meister (born 5 January 1962 in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

-Neugraben)Ralf Meister als neuer Landesbischof gewählt, EVLKA - News 25 November 2010
/ref> 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 ...

theologian, former General Superintendent (regional bishop) of Berlin,Predigerinnen und Prediger an der Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis-Kirche, s.v. Ralf Meister
/ref> and

Landesbischof A Landesbischof () is the head of some Protestant regional churches in Germany. Based on the principle of '' summus episcopus'' (german: landesherrliches Kirchenregiment), after the Reformation each Lutheran prince assumed the position of supreme ...

of the

Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover (german: Evangelisch-lutherische Landeskirche Hannovers) is a Lutheran church body ''(Landeskirche)'' in the northern German state of Lower Saxony and the city of Bremerhaven covering the territory of th ...

. Meister studied at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

and the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

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 ...

and

Jewish Studies Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; he, מדעי היהדות, madey ha-yahadut, sciences of Judaism) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (esp ...

. He was ordained at

St. Michaelis Church, Hamburg St. Michael's Church (german: Hauptkirche Sankt Michaelis), colloquially called Michel (), is one of Hamburg's five Lutheran main churches (''Hauptkirchen'') and one of the most famous churches in the city. St. Michaelis is a landmark of the city ...

on 28 May 1992. In September 2001 he became Provost of the Lübeck district of the

North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church The North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church (german: link=no, Nordelbische Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche; NEK) was a Lutheran regional church in Northern Germany which emerged from a merger of four churches in 1977 and merged with two more churc ...

. On

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Ne ...

2008 he was invested as General Superintendent of Berlin at the

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (in German: Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, but mostly just known as Gedächtniskirche ) is a Protestant church affiliated with the Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia, a regi ...

, succeeding Martin-Michael Passauer, who retired. On 25 November 2010 the Synod of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover elected Meister as

, winning 64 of 76 votes in the second round. Meister's investment as bishop will be held at the Marktkirche in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

on 26 March 2011. He succeeded

Margot Käßmann Margot Käßmann (; born 3 June 1958) is a Lutheran theologian, who was '' Landesbischöfin'' (bishop) of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover in Germany. On 28 October 2009, she was elected to lead the ''Evangelical Church in Germany'', a ...

who stepped down as Landesbischof on 24 February 2010. On 22 January 2005 he gave the "Wort zum Sonntag" on the German national television for the first time.GENERALSUPERINTENDENT RALF MEISTER (EV.) at DasErste.de
/ref> Ralf Meister is married to Dagmar Ulrich-Meister and has three children, Juval, Lotta and Tom-Lasse.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meister, Ralf Living people German Lutheran theologians 1962 births People from Harburg, Hamburg Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni University of Hamburg alumni 21st-century Lutheran bishops German male non-fiction writers 21st-century German Lutheran bishops