“Lutherans keep it exciting” was the headline of the Catholic news agency in its report on the impasse in the Bavarian Evangelical Church. And Nina Lubomierski, one of the candidates to succeed State Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, compared the election with a “crime scene” episode. In the meantime, however, it has become a thriller with lengths: Even on Wednesday, the fourth day of the national synod, it was still not clear how and, above all, when the church parliament wants to elect a new bishop.
The election preparation committee met late Tuesday evening and wanted to discuss how to proceed. But on Wednesday, no one knew any more: the synod was opened as usual with a prayer, then the public was excluded from the session, then it continued as planned with a focus on “One World”. On this Wednesday evening, the three working groups of the synod should first consult internally – in order to meet again later in the plenary session of the synod. The working groups “Gemeinde Unterwegs”, “Open Church” and “Third Working Group” are loose associations of members of the synod who represent different theological profiles within the plenum and accordingly support different candidates.
Two women and two men had originally stood for election: the head of the “Mission One World” center, Gabriele Hoerschelmann, the Windsbach dean Klaus Schlicker, the Landshut dean Nina Lubomierski and the Munich regional bishop Christian Kopp. Surprisingly, the 106 members of the state synod in a seven-hour session on Monday could not agree on a new bishop. No one was able to win the majority of the votes in six ballots, in the end it was Kopp against Lubomierski, but both were almost equally strong.
The members of the synod now have two options: Either they complete another round of voting during the current spring synod. According to canon law, only two candidates can then be on the ballot paper, which can be the previous names or new names. So far it is unclear whether Kopp and Lubomierski would be available again. However, the latter is likely to fail due to a logistical hurdle in the short time available: According to the state church contract, new candidates need the approval of the Bavarian state government. In addition, the two church umbrella organizations responsible for the regional church, the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany (VELKD), must agree to the proposals.
Alternatively, a completely new election procedure could be opened, with a public call for applications, election proposals, consultations and the nomination of candidates. If the synods decide to go this route, a separate electoral synod would have to be convened later in the year. Either way, Heinrich Bedford-Strohm’s term of office ends on Reformation Day. If no new provincial bishop has been found by then, Oberkirchenrat Stefan Reimers would step in as interim bishop. He is the permanent representative of the bishop in the regional church office.
An election still in the current synod will be technically sporty: The vote was carried out digitally for the first time this year – it is still unclear whether the necessary technology will also be available for another, unplanned ballot or whether one will have to switch to paper as before not clear.
So while the logistics are probably rotating in the background, the Synod Presidium is trying to keep things normal. “Nothing went wrong at all,” said President Annekathrin Preidel when asked whether the election preparation committee could have done anything better. As planned, there were six ballots on Monday, it just takes a little longer. You could say so.