Annette Kurschus


Annette Kurschus is a German Protestant theologian and pastor. Since March 2012 she has been Praeses of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia and since November 2015 she has also been Vice-President of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany.

Origin and education

Annette Kurschus grew up in Obersuhl in Hessen and in Siegen. Her father Georg Kurschus was a protestant pastor at the Nikolai Church in Siegen. After graduating from high school in Siegen in 1982, she studied medicine for a short time, and since 1983 Protestant theology at the University of Bonn, the University of Marburg, the University of Münster and at the Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal. She completed her vicariate in Siegen-Eiserfeld.

Career and position

After her vicariate Annette Kurschus became parish priest in Siegen-Klafeld in 1993 and in Siegen-Weidenau in 1999. Since 2001 she was also deputy superintendent of the Evangelical Church District of Siegen. From 2005 to 2012 she held the function of Superintendent of the Evangelical Church District of Siegen.
In November 2011 she was elected by the Westphalian regional synod as Praeses of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia and was introduced into the function of the leading clergy on 4 March 2012.
Since November 2015 Annette Kurschus has also been a member of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany and deputy chairwoman of the Council, and since 2016 commissioner of the EKD Council for relations with the Polish churches.
On 20 November 2019 Annette Kurschus was confirmed in the function of the Praeses and re-elected for a further term.

Further functions

Annette Kurschus is co-editor of the evangelical magazine chrismon and the evangelical monthly magazine zeitzeichen. She is chairwoman of the board of the evangelical press association and of the supervisory board of the German Bible Society. Furthermore she is a member of the board of trustees of the Detmold University of Music and since 2020 she is a member of the university council of the University of Münster.

Award

The University of Münster awarded Annette Kurschus an honorary doctorate on 28 January 2019. She received the award due to her merits concerning the dialogue between religion and society.