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[Episcopal News Service] Earlier this year, the Rev. Christopher Easthill, rector of St. Augustine of Canterbury Anglican-Episcopal Church in Wiesbaden, Germany, was elected chair of the Council of Churches in Germany, becoming the first Episcopal priest to hold that position. Founded in 1948 and reconstituted in 1992 following Germany’s reunification, the council represents 25 churches and denominations countrywide. Its members include the Roman Catholic Church, the Evangelical Church in Germany (the main Protestant denomination), the Moravian Church, the Syrian and Coptic Orthodox churches, Methodists, Baptists, Pentecostals, the Council of Anglican Episcopal Churches and many others. It focuses on shared witness, is committed to justice, peace and upholding the integrity of creation, and advocates for the rights of persecuted Christians worldwide. Easthill, who’d served nine years on the council’s five-member board, was elected chair by the council’s membership during its General Assembly in Augsburg on March 19. He succeeds Greek Orthodox Archpriest Radu Constantin Miron, who served for six years. Born in Singapore to British nationals, Easthill, a lifelong Anglican, worked for a German insurance company for 30 years and was an active member of the Church of the Ascension in Munich before pursuing ordained ministry. He attended the now-closed St. John’s Theological College in Nottingham, England, and is a 2013 graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. He speaks fluent German and has both U.K. and German citizenship. He was ordained a priest in 2013 and first served as a curate at Ascension in Munich before relocating to St. Augustine of Canterbury in Wiesbaden. Easthill also chairs the Council of Anglican and Episcopal Churches in Germany, a 15-member organization enabling mission and ministry cooperation among the parishes in the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe and the Church of England’s Diocese in Europe. The interview has been edited for clarity. ENS: What is the Council of Churches in Germany and why is it important? EASTHILL: It’s a very broad body (like the National Council of Churches in the U.S.) that includes almost all churches present at a national level. The Roman Catholic Church is a full member, which is not the case in every country; just as, for example, the Roman Catholic Church is not a member of the World Council of Churches. It includes evangelical free churches, although “evangelical” doesn’t mean the same thing as it does in the U.S. context. They are evangelical in the sense that they are Bible-oriented, and they can sometimes be more theologically and socially conservative on issues like abortion, for example. But they are more politically liberal than American evangelicals, and we have a lot in common on things like creation care and peace and justice, and they’re willing and want to work with other churches. Today, just under 50% of Germans – 20% in what was the formerly communist East Germany – identify as Christian, and it’s important that we speak in a common language. ENS: In the U.S., mainline Protestant churches come together as the National Council of Churches and often speak in one voice on immigration reform, gun safety, climate change and other advocacy priorities, like those of the Council of Churches in Germany. In the U.S., though, the Christian right speaks louder and has its own unique voice. What does Christian public witness and advocacy look like in Germany? EASTHILL: In Germany, most people have the [shared] language to understand what we’re talking about. The most recent criticism we received was from a conservative politician telling us that churches should stick to theological themes rather than acting like an NGO and that we should stop making recommendations on political topics. So, if anything, the overall perception is that the churches in Germany are center-left, which is really not correct. We don’t back political parties. The issues we speak up on, like looking after refugees, poverty, social justice, racism, creation care – these are all Christian issues. And yet some people think our responses are particularly left-wing. Personally, I think that says more about the people criticizing us than about us. But if anything, I would say that’s a different perception. If you say Christian here, the reaction is not going to be, oh, that’s somebody who’s very conservative and doesn’t accept my lifestyle, say if I was LGBTQ. Instead, if you’re coming from the left, you are more likely to say, “Oh, they’re good, they’re on the same page.” ENS: One thing I didn’t realize is that three different Protestant denominations make up the broader Protestant Church in Germany. And of the 48% of the population who identify as Christians, just under half, about 24%, are Catholic. Can you briefly shed some light on this part of history?   EASTHILL: It’s complicated! Germany only became a unified state in the 19th century. After the [Protestant] Reformation, some parts of the country remained Catholic, and where the Reformation took effect, it was also the local ruler’s decision which Protestant denomination – Lutheran, Reformed or later United – was recognized. The main Protestant church now unites all three different “flavors” at a national level. Regionally, like our partners in Bavaria, the church will usually just identify with one denomination. On top of that, 40 years of communism in the East [East Germany] had a significant negative impact on church membership. ENS: In early June, The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria are poised to sign a full-communion agreement. What is its significance? EASTHILL: On a practical level, it allows for exchange of clergy. We have a big church in Munich and two smaller mission churches in Augsburg and Nuremberg; if there’s an English-speaking pastor, we now have interchangeability we didn’t have before. The wider impact is, it’s the first full-communion agreement that an Anglican church has reached with a German Lutheran church, with their very different history and understanding of the office of bishop. We have full communion agreements, of course, in the United States with the Evangelical Lutheran […]

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