After more than eight years, Reverend Dr Kerstin Neumann is leaving the Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS). Her official farewell took place last Wednesday during a service at the Pauluskirche (St Paul’s Church) in Stuttgart.

Kerstin Neumann was Head of the Programmes and Networks Unit and Secretary for Intercultural Theology and Education, Women and Gender. From 2018 to 2020, she was also Acting General Secretary of the EMS. Over the past eight years, she played a key role in shaping the development of the EMS. During a festive service, former colleagues from the church and the EMS Fellowship as well as current and former co-workers paid tribute to Kerstin Neumann's commitment to interreligious and intercultural dialogue.

Reverend Dr h.c. Detlev Knoche, Chair of the International Mission Council of the EMS, highlighted Kerstin Neumann's commitment to the internationalisation of the EMS: "Her vision of mission as an international community of learning in which resources and knowledge are shared has inspired and motivated many. As Acting General Secretary from 2018 to 2020, she steered the EMS through challenging times with great commitment." For Anne Heitmann, Deputy Chair of the International Mission Council, Kerstin Neumann made a special contribution to the empowerment of women in the EMS member churches: “She networked us sisters in the EMS. Together we campaigned against discrimination against women and gender-based violence. The experience of not standing alone is incredibly important, especially for women from minority churches."

Kerstin Neumann studied Protestant theology at Philipps University in Marburg, where she later completed her doctorate. As an ordained minister of the Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck, she dedicated herself early on to serving people and intercultural encounters. The years she spent in India, where she worked as a lecturer and in various mission activities, left a lasting impression on her and significantly broadened her perspectives. Her path now leads her back to India to join her husband, Rev Dr J. David Rajendran, former rector of the Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary (TTS) in Madurai, South India, with whom she has two children.

Kerstin Neumann joined the EMS in 2015. Looking back, she describes her time in Stuttgart as the highlight of her professional career. As Head of the Mission and Partnership Department – later renamed Programmes and Networks – she applied her expertise and passion for intercultural work to strengthen the EMS’s relationships with its partners and relationships between member churches.

In his farewell address, the General Secretary of the EMS, Reverend Dr Dieter Heidtmann, praised Kerstin Neumann's personal relationships with the people at the EMS Secretariat and in the EMS member churches: "You have been of immense service to the worldwide EMS Fellowship through the diversity of your ecumenical and intercultural experience. You were a positive influence on all of us - just as you are!" 

We wish Kerstin Neumann God's blessing for her future.