Bertold Höcker

Bertold Höcker (born August 11, 1958 in Kiel ) is a German Protestant theologian . Since 2009 he has held the position of superintendent of the church district Berlin Stadtmitte of the Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia . He represents the rights of lesbians and gays in the Protestant Church, is an advocate of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue and initiator of the liberal Ibn Rushd Goethe Mosque .

Life

After training as an organ builder in Kiel, Höcker studied church music under Johannes Berchmans Göschl in Munich. In 1986 he passed the Abitur at the evening grammar school. Höcker then enrolled for a double degree in theology and psychology in Kiel, which he continued in Munich and Tübingen. In addition to his studies, he worked from 1990 to 1994 as a university organist at the Christian Albrechts University in Kiel . After graduating with the theological church examination and as a certified psychologist, he received his doctorate in 1994 under Hans-Joachim Birkner and Reiner Preul with the work of Gregorian chant in Lutheran worship services for Dr. theol. From 1994 to 2003 he was a lecturer for Protestant liturgy and Gregorian chant at the Musikhochschule in Lübeck , senior church councilor in the North Elbish church office and pastor at St. Nikolai in Kiel. He then moved to Cologne in 2003 as the city pastor of the Antoniterkirche , from where he was elected superintendent of the Evangelical Church District Berlin Stadtmitte in 2009.

In addition to his work as superintendent, Höcker performs various consulting activities, including as a management consultant and theological advisor to the working group of Protestant entrepreneurs. He is also a member of the German Liturgical Conference and teaches at the Abraham Geiger College .

Positions

Höcker is considered an unconventional reformer within the Protestant church. His thoughts and actions are based on the assumption that the Protestant Church exclusively thinks of the Christian mission. As a consequence, he questions the current organizational structure, whether it still fulfills the mission of the church and initiates appropriate reforms. As a further consequence, he questions the parochial principle in cities, in favor of thinking in church places. Höcker promotes economic competencies within the church structures, which are dedicated to business, and supports the spin-offs of church-owned companies and associations. He is an advocate of consistent prosecution of wrongdoing, which also includes liability for incorrect decisions by full-time and voluntary workers, which, however, often remain without consequences within the church.

During his tenure as superintendent in Berlin, significant efforts were made towards interreligious dialogue, such as the House of One as the world's first common sacred site with a synagogue , a church and a mosque under one roof. Höcker is also significantly responsible for the development of the church location St. Johannes of the Protestant community Tiergarten into an interreligious center, among other things through the establishment of the liberal Ibn Rushd Goethe mosque , as well as for the inclusion of the Jewish scholarship organization ELES .

With the Good Friday procession , Höcker developed a form of ecumenism in Berlin that brings key messages of Christianity into public space.

Höcker was one of the early champions of same-sex marriage within canon law. He caused a particular stir in 2011 when he allowed two deposed Catholic and gay priests to celebrate the Eucharist in the rooms of the Protestant church. Under his leadership, the parish and the Protestant church took part in the Christopher Street Day parade for the first time in 2017 .

Publications

• Gregorian chant in the Lutheran service . St. Ottilien, 1994, ISBN 978-3880967328 .
• with Thomas Bauer , Walter Homolka , Klaus Mertes : Religion and Homosexuality - Current Positions . Wallstein, Göttingen 2013, ISBN 978-3835313255 .
• with Matthias Herzberg: values ​​and prosperity. The occidental-Christian image of man as a success factor of a company . Berlin / New York 2014, ISBN 978-3981337563 .

Web links

• The superintendent and his deputies on kkbs.de

Individual evidence

1. ^ Church reform - Against the thermos theology . In: Deutschlandfunk Kultur . ( deutschlandfunkkultur.de [accessed on August 29, 2017]).
2. ↑ Good Friday procession: “One can only be silent there” . In: Berliner Zeitung . ( berliner-zeitung.de [accessed on August 29, 2017]).
3. ↑ medrum.de
4. ↑ Cross and queer . ( tagesspiegel.de [accessed on August 29, 2017]).