10 June 2024
The Fourth Presidency Group of Member Churches have nominated Bishop Paulina Hławiczka-Trotman to succeed Dr Anna Krauss as their President for Churches Together in England.
Bishop Paulina is the head of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain. She will serve as a CTE President for the remainder of the term of the Council of Lutheran Churches.
CTE General Secretary, Bishop Mike Royal, said: “Churches Together in England is delighted at the appointment of Bishop Paulina Hlawiczka-Trotman as a CTE President by the Fourth Presidency Group. Bishop Paulina has a proven track record of ecumenical engagement and an unswerving commitment to CTE’s Racial Justice Working Group. As the first female Polish Bishop in the UK, she is a trailblazer. We are excited about the ongoing journey with our Lutheran sisters and brothers”
Bishop Paulina Hlawiczka-Trotman said: “I’m honoured to have been appointed as the CTE President representing the Fourth Presidency Group, to serve God and His church across the ecumenical family. I look forward to this challenge and the opportunities it promises, particularly at a critical time in our history in Britain and beyond. Thank you for your confidence expressed in this call to mission and ministry. It is with humility and joy that I come to the task together with you!”
The Fourth Presidency Group said: “We are very happy to welcome Bishop Paulina as our new President and look forward to journeying together with her on our ecumenical path. The Fourth Presidency Group is a diverse set of churches strongly committed to this journey. Bishop Paulina’s work on racial justice will add yet another layer of knowledge and ability to build bridges to our group.”
The Fourth President is 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 (Evangelische Synode Deutscher Sprache in Großbritannien) and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers in Britain).
Dr Anna Krauss has stepped down from the Presidency to take up the post of Director of the Lutheran World Federation’s (LWF) Centre in Wittenberg, Germany. She said: “I have very much enjoyed my time as a CTE President. It was encouraging to see a young lay woman embraced so warmly by this diverse group of Christians. I was able to be involved in CTE’s Working with Diversity Group which remains an important topic for the Fourth Presidency Group who continue to carry the experience of Hannah’s empty chair. Most of all I would like to thank my brothers and sisters in the Fourth Presidency Group who have truly grown to be my ecumenical family and I will greatly miss our fellowship.”
More about Bishop Paulina
Paulina Hławiczka-Trotman comes from the Beskid Mountains in Southern Poland. She graduated from the Faculty of Theology and Ethics at the Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw with a thesis on the hope for universal salvation (Apocatastasis) in the literature of Professor Wacław Hryniewicz, under the supervision of Professor Marek Jerzy Uglorz. At the same time, she graduated in opera singing and acting under the leadership of Professor Ewelina Hańska, National Opera Soprano.
After graduation, she worked for several years in the Military Chaplaincy (as the Army Bishop’s assistant) within the Ministry of National Defence, and then for the Polish Ecumenical Council as the coordinator for Polish Presidency in the EU.
She was ordained in London by Rt Rev Dr Martin Lind to serve in the Lutheran Church in Great Britain. She took over as pastor of the parishes Trinity Leicester-Nottingham in 2014, St Paul’s Corby in 2015, and Christ the King London in 2021. She has been a chaplain at the University of Nottingham since 2016. She is a Trustee of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain and the Council of Lutheran Churches. Pastors in the Lutheran Church in Great Britain must be bi-professional in order to support themselves financially. She combines her passions and continues to sing in this country and beyond.
Paulina was consecrated Bishop of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain in January 2024.
She is married to a church minister, theologian, activist and racial justice advocate, Rev Arlington W. Trotman (Methodist Church in Britain).
Who are the CTE Presidents?
CTE is represented by six Presidents from the major traditions of our 54 Member Churches. They meet regularly to discuss matters concerning the churches in England, and together seek to serve as a sign of our unity. The other five Presidents are:
- The Most Rev and Rt Hon Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby
- Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols
- National Overseer of the Church of God of Prophecy UK, Bishop Tedroy Powell
- Archbishop of the Oecumenical Patriarchate (Diocese of Thyateira and Great Britain), His Eminence Archbishop Nikitas
- Moderator of the Free Churches Group, Rev Canon Helen Cameron
Find out more about the CTE Presidents.
For further information, please contact:
Sarah Ball
Senior Communications and Media Manager, Churches Together in England
[email protected]
07707 988387
Photo: Bishop Mike Royal and Bishop Paulina Hławiczka-Trotman Credit: copyright Churches Together in England