Gerhard Claas

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Gerhard Claas (born August 31, 1928 in Wetter (Ruhr) ; † March 21, 1988 in Lodi , USA ) was a German Baptist pastor and from 1980 until his death General Secretary of the Baptist World Federation .

Life

Gerhard Claas came from a Baptist family. His parents, the locksmith Ernst Claas and Anna, née Schroeder, belonged to the Evangelical Free Church Community of Volmarstein-Grundschöttel . He was also baptized there when he was 15 . From 1940 to December 1944 Claas attended the municipal high school for boys in Wetter. In early 1944 he was drafted as a flak helper. His school education, which he could only continue after the Second World War , he completed in 1948 at the commercial college in Hagen . Claas originally intended to start a commercial apprenticeship, but when he met a Lutheran cleric, he received the decisive impetus to turn to the study of Protestant theology . To prepare for this course of study, he completed a one-year internship as a parish helper in the Evangelical Free Church in Düsseldorf (Luisenstrasse).

In the winter semester of 1949 , Gerhard Claas enrolled at the Theological Seminary of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches , which was then based in Hamburg-Horn . In 1951 he went to the Baptist Theological Seminary in Rüschlikon / Switzerland for a two-semester exchange course . He passed his theological exam in 1953 in Hamburg-Horn. The topic of his thesis was: The relationship between the kingdom of God and the church in modern theology .

Following his studies, the aforementioned community in Düsseldorf called Claas to their pastor. His recognition as pastor of the BEFG took place after the usual three-year probationary period (vicariate) in 1956. During this time, he also gave Protestant religious instruction at a high school in Düsseldorf. On January 1, 1959, he switched to the service as federal youth warden and head of the community youth service based in Hamburg-Horn. After another parish service in the oldest German Baptist parish in Hamburg, Grindelallee (1964 to 1967), Gerhard Claas was appointed director of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches with an official seat in Bad Homburg in 1967 as the successor to Rudolf Thaut . Subsequently, Claas was Secretary General of the European Baptist Federation from 1976 (former seat: Hamburg-Schnelsen ).

On July 10, 1980, the Congress of the Baptist World Federation in Toronto elected Gerhard Claas as its general secretary. During his eight years of service he was particularly committed to the situation of Christians behind the so-called Iron Curtain . His successor in office was Denton Lotz .

On March 21, 1988, Gerhard Claas fell victim to a traffic accident while on a business trip. He left behind his wife Irmgard, née Saffran, and three children. One of the daughters of the Claas couple, Pastor Regina Claas , was Secretary General of the largest German Baptist Union from 2003 to 2013.

Appreciations

On August 9, 1974, Gerhard Claas received an honorary doctorate from the Divinity Ouachita Baptist University ( Arkadelphia / Arkansas ) in recognition of his service of reconciliation between the peoples . Another honorary doctorate was awarded to him on May 19, 1985 by Divinity Alderson Broaddus College ( Philippi / West Virginia ).

In 1991, the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches in Germany founded the Gerhard Claas Study Fund in memory of the fatally injured BWA General Secretary . In 2006 the Gerhard Claas Foundation took over the tasks of the former fund. It was recognized on April 25 of the same year by the Ministry of the Interior of the State of Brandenburg . The purpose of the foundation, which is based in Elstal , "is to promote research into and knowledge of German, European and worldwide Baptism and the training and further education of Baptist theologians."

Fonts (selection)

  • Missionary work , Kassel 1961.
  • Pastor in the Oncken parish , in: Festschrift. 150 years of the Oncken congregation. 1834 - 1984 (Eds. Harald Becker, Dieter Kroll, Erhard Rockel), Hamburg 1984, p. 77 ff.
  • Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II (co-author), 2007, ISBN 1-55635-259-X .

literature

  • Institute for Oral History at Baylor University (Ed.): Oral Memoirs of Gerhard Claas. November 26, 1984 - October 12, 1987 , Waco / Texas 1988.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Religion and Culture Project of the Institute for Oral History at Baylor University : Oral Memoirs of Gerhard Claas , Waco / Texas 1988, p. 11.
  2. ^ Religion and Culture Project of the Institute for Oral History at Baylor University : Oral Memoirs of Gerhard Claas , Waco / Texas 1988, p. 18 f.
  3. ↑ Predigerseminar Hamburg Horn (Hrsg.): Festschrift to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Preachers' Seminar of the Evangelical Free Churches (Baptists) in Germany , Hamburg-Horn 1955, p. 62.
  4. ↑ Predigerseminar Hamburg Horn (Ed.): Festschrift for the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Preachers' Seminar of the Evangelical Free Churches (Baptists) in Germany , Hamburg-Horn 1955, p. 100.
  5. ↑ Evangelical Free Church in Düsseldorf: Chronicle ; Accessed July 12, 2011.
  6. ↑ Harald Becker, Dieter Kroll, Erhard Rockel (ed.): Festschrift. 150 years of the Oncken congregation. 1834 - 1984 , Hamburg 1984, p. 154.
  7. ^ Baptists Düsseldorf: 175 years of Baptists in Germany ; Accessed July 12, 2011.
  8. ↑ The New York Times: Baptist Leader elected in Toronto (July 11, 2011)
  9. ^ New York Times: Gerhard Claas, 59, A Leader of Baptists (March 24, 1988) ; Accessed July 11, 2011.
  10. ↑ Gerhard Claas Foundation: History ( Memento of the original from December 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Accessed July 11, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gerhard-claas-stiftung.de
  11. ^ Official Journal for Brandenburg. Joint Ministerial Gazette for the State of Brandenburg , Volume 17, No. 20 (May 24, 2006), p. 374; online ; Accessed July 11, 2007.
predecessor Office successor
Rudolf Thaut Federal Director / Secretary General of the
Union of Evangelical Free Churches in Germany

1967 - 1969 		Manfred Otto
personal data
SURNAME Claas, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Baptist pastor, General Secretary of the Baptist World Federation
DATE OF BIRTH August 31, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Weather (Ruhr)
DATE OF DEATH March 21, 1988
Place of death Lodi , USA