THE general secretary of the Council of Lutheran Churches in Britain, Dr Anna Krauss, has been appointed as one of the six presidents of Churches Together in England (CTE).

She will represent the Fourth Presidency Group, having been nominated by the Church of Scotland (Presbytery of England), the Council of Lutheran Churches, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England, the Synod of German-Speaking Lutheran, Reformed, and United Congregations in Great Britain, and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers in Britain).

In 2019, Hannah Brock Womack, a Quaker in a same-sex marriage, was nominated for the position, but the presidency was never enacted after a request by a majority of CTE’s member Churches. There followed a period in which an “empty chair” was in place, representing “the lack of agreement within the churches in England regarding human sexuality” (News, 22 November 2019, 21 April).

Dr Krauss has a doctorate in theology and has worked as an Old Testament scholar and expert in early biblical manuscripts at Heidelberg University and the University of Oxford. On Tuesday, she said: “Ecumenism is hope — not a trite platitude, but a deep conviction that we can recognise Christ in all of us and our respective Churches. Our diversity enables us to spread the gospel farther and more deeply.”

The general secretary of CTE, Bishop Mike Royal, said that he had “a deep respect” for Hannah Brock Womack: “Working alongside her since I came into post, I have seen that she is full of grace and Christian love. We wish to express our deep gratitude to Hannah for the dignified way in which she both continued to convene the Fourth Presidency Group and conducted her ongoing interaction with the other CTE Presidents at Presidents’ Meetings.”