Assyrian Church Represented at Evangelical Lutheran Episcopal Consecration

Reverend Archdeacon Emmanuel Youkhana, parish priest from Germany and representative of His Beatitude Mar Meelis Zaia AM in Lebanon has attended the consecration of Professor Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria.

Prof. Bedford-Strohm was consecrated the new bishop of Bavaria, succeeding Bishop Dr. Johannes Friedrich who spent 12 years in office (the maximum term able to be served as Bishop by a clergyman of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria).

Bishop Bedford-Strohm is Professor of Systematic Theology and Director of the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Research Centre for Public Theology, University of Bamberg, Germany.

The consecration, which took place on 30 October 2011, lasted an hour and was carried widely by the national media in Germany.

In addition to the participation of the Assyrian Church of the East in the ceremony, other churches were also present including representatives of churches from Africa, Asia, Latin American and Eastern Europe.

At the reception following the consecration, all denominations presented gifts to the newly consecrated bishop. On behalf of the Holy Church, and in particular His Beatitude Mar Meelis Zaia AM and His Beatitude Mar Gewargis Sliwa, Archdeacon Emmanuel presented a book concerning the history of the Assyrian Church of the East to the newly consecrated bishop.

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