Dr Locher had resigned from the office of President of the Protestant Church in Switzerland in May 2020. “I feel it is incumbent upon me to now also relinquish my office in the CPCE,” Locher wrote in his explanation to the Council, adding: “The Council should contain as many office holders as possible.”

Locher had been a member of the Presidium of the CPCE since the 2012 General Assembly in Florence and was elected its Executive President following the death of Bishop Friedrich Weber in 2015. He cited the General Assembly of the CPCE held in Basle Cathedral in 2018 as a particular milestone during his term in office.

The Presidium of the CPCE consists of three members of Council. The election to fill the resulting vacancy for the third position (alongside Professor Miriam Rose from Germany and Dr John Bradbury from the U.K.) is due to be held during the next Council session, scheduled for January 2021 in Strasbourg. “The Presidium, Council and head office enjoy a close and trusting working relationship,” according to Bradbury. “The admission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland to the CPCE and the member churches’ intensive discussions on the effects of the corona crisis demonstrate the vigour of our church communion!”