Andreas Behr will be the new superintendent in Gifhorn - a fresh wind for the church!

Andreas Behr will be the new superintendent in Gifhorn - a fresh wind for the church!

Gifhorn, Deutschland - Andreas Behr becomes the new superintendent of the Gifhorn church district. In the election on Thursday evening, he received 34 out of 60 votes in the second ballot and thus prevailed against Derik Mennrich, the current pastor of the federal police. This reports the Landeskirche Hannovers . Behr follows Sylvia Pfannschmidt, who will retire on Sunday.

The choice was an exciting event in which both candidates demonstrated their suitability for the management office of the church district. During the election process, Behr emphasized the importance of management responsibility as a spiritual challenge. It was already clear in advance among the synoding members entitled to vote that Behr wanted to bring fresh impulses into the church district. Ute Szameitat, the chair of the Gifhorner church parliament, was positive about the election. She sees a capable successor to Pfannschmidt

Behr: An experienced spiritual

Andreas Behr, 54 years old, has an impressive career. He started as an assistant to the board of the Evangelical Lutheran missionary work and was then a parish pastor in Gifhorn. He also taught as a lecturer for confirmation work at the religious education institute in Loccum. Most recently, he coordinated the activities of the Hannoversche Landeskirche at the Evangelical Church Day. This experiences will benefit him if he takes up his new position in October.

The challenger, Derik Mennrich, is 50 years old and also brings a rich horizon of experience. He studied in Bethel, Aarhus and Göttingen and worked from 2006 to 2014 in the team parish office of the Bardowicker Domgemeinde. He is currently heading a team of eleven pastor: interior and employees at the federal police in Hanover. His commitment to a pastoral church was an important point that he emphasized in the election.

The way to the superintendent

The new election of the superintendent is an important step because it is a church management office that has a double function. It includes responsibility for the implementation of decisions and the representation of the church in public. The new election is a regular term of eight years, which, according to the Kirchenrecht of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia, if the incumbent person goes or the term of office ends.

With the choice of Andreas Behr, a fresh wind is now pending in the Gifhorn church district, and expectations are high. The anticipation of an exciting time under his direction is noticeable, not only among the members of the synod, but also in the entire community. Behr will start his tasks in October and has already announced that he wanted to work closely with the believers in order to continue to strengthen the community of faith.