The United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (German: Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands, VELKD) was founded on July 8, 1948, in Eisenach, Germany. Its total membership is 7.3 million people.Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands velkd.de All its member churches belong to the Protestant Church in Germany, with which it co-operates closely. In 2018 it has been reduced from an independent legal entity to an administrative unit within the larger Protestant Church in Germany.
The seat of the VELKD is in Hanover. The leading bishop (German: Leitender Bischof) is Ralf Meister.
Leading Bishops of the VELKD
1948–1949: Wilhelm Henke 1949–1955: Hans Meiser 1955–1969: Johannes Lilje 1969–1975: Hans-Otto Wölber, Land Bishop of Hamburg 1975–1978: Eduard Lohse 1978–1981: Gerhard Heintze 1981–1990: Karlheinz Stoll 1990–1993: Gerhard Müller 1993–1999: Horst Hirschler 1999–2005: Hans Christian Knuth 2005–2011: Johannes Friedrich 2011-2018: Gerhard Ulrich since 2018: Ralf Meister
President of the Church Office of the VELKD 1949-1963: Heinz Brunotte 1963-1967: Max Keller-Hüschemenger 1968-1976: Hugo Schnell 1976–1982: Günther Gaßmann 1983-2000: Friedrich-Otto Scharbau 2000-2015: Friedrich Hauschildt ( also Vice-President of the Office of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD), between 2007 and 2015) 2015-2023: Horst Gorski (also Vice-President of EKD between 2015 and 2023) since 2023: Stephan Schaede (also Vice-President of EKD since 2023)
Members
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Brunswick Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Schaumburg-Lippe Evangelical Church in Central Germany (since 2009)
Sources
External links Official Website (in German; English information here)