F. K. Otto Dibelius

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F. K. Otto Dibelius (May 15, 1880-1967) was a bishop of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia, and staunch opponent of Nazism and communism.

He was born in Berlin in 1880. From 1899-1903 he studied at the University of Berlin. He received his Ph.D. in 1902. From 1904-06 he studied at the Preachers' Seminary in Wittenberg. From 1906-07 he was the assistant pastor at Guben. From 1907-09 he was the archdeacon at Crossen on the Odern. From 1909-10 he was the assistant pastor at the Church of SS. Peter and Paul in Danzig. From 1911-15 he was the chief pastor at Lauenburg in Pomerania. From 1915-25 he was the pastor of the Heilsbronnen congregation in Berlin. In 1918 he was the executive secretary of the Mutual Trust Council in the Supreme Ecclesiastical Council of the Evangelical Church (part time). In 1921 he was a member of the Supreme Ecclesiastical Council (part time). From 1925-33 he was the superintendent-general of the Kurmark. From 1933-45 he was relieved of functions and placed in retirement. From 1933-34 he served the pastorate at San Remo. From 1934-45 he was a member of Councils of Brethren of the Confessing Church. He became the bishop of the Lutheran church in Berlin in 1945. Beginning in 1949, he was chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany. Beginning in 1854 he was the president of the World Council of Churches (part time). He died in 1967.

[edit] References

• Dibelius, Otto. In the Service of the Lord. London: Faber and Faber, 1964 [1961].
• Gross, Ernie. This Day in Religion. New York: Neal-Schuman, 1990. ISBN 1-55570-045-4.