Martin Affolderbach

Martin Affolderbach was born in Wuppertal in 1947. He studied Protestant theology in Wuppertal, Heidelberg, and Bonn, earning a doctorate in theology from the University of Bonn. After serving as a parish pastor in Bielefeld, he worked for the Association of Protestant Youth in Germany and directed the Protestant Youth Academy in Radevormwald. From 1995, he served as a senior church councillor in the Church Office of the Evangelical Church in Germany in Hanover, initially responsible for migration and questions concerning foreigners, and later for Islam, world religions, and the Middle East. He held this position until 2012 and also taught as an adjunct lecturer at several universities and colleges.