Anne Waßmann-Böhm: Her path as the voice of the church on SWR!

Anne Waßmann-Böhm: Her path as the voice of the church on SWR!

On October 27, 2025, there will be an important personnel policy change in Ingelheim: Anne Waßmann-Böhm, who previously worked as pastor of the Protestant hall church congregation for 13 years, will work as broadcasting representative for the Protestant churches in Rhineland-Palatinate at SWR. This new role will allow her to extend her extensive parish ministry experience of over 23 years to a larger audience. The aim is to strengthen church proclamation on the radio and to carry God's word into people's hearts, as Waßmann-Böhm explains, by "weaving God as a common thread into people's lives". These statements come from a report from Nahe News.

In her new role, she will not only design content for the SWR devotional formats, but will also act as a link between the church and the broadcaster in order to represent the interests of the Protestant communities. It is particularly important to her to support and train authors who write for these formats. She also plans to continue writing her own devotionals.

Diversity in broadcasting

The decision to appoint Waßmann-Böhm is in line with the constitutionally enshrined participation of churches in broadcasting. According to Article 5 of the Basic Law, freedom of broadcasting guarantees churches to be actively present on radio and television. This regulation is supported by the Interstate Broadcasting Treaty, which provides for appropriate consideration of churches in the broadcasters' programs. This also includes third-party broadcasting rights that religious communities are entitled to and which are intended to ensure that their voices are not only heard, but that they can also actively help shape it, as Evangelische Rundfunkarbeit reports.

An interesting challenge that Waßmann-Böhm could face is the fact that there are no church service broadcasts on private television. The churches here often rely on short announcements, and the complicated framework conditions make cooperation difficult. Despite these hurdles, the Protestant regional churches, in which cooperation with Roman Catholic broadcasts is generally possible, are striving to find a permanent place in broadcasting.

Festive farewell and introduction

On November 2, 2025, Anne Waßmann-Böhm will be ceremoniously farewelled by the Ingelheim Saalkirche, with the sermon verse “You are a letter from Christ” playing a special role. Her mission is to continue to pursue the innovative concept developed during her time as a pastor, the “Church Explorers” for children. Starting next year, she will also be taking on a preaching assignment for up to six church services in the Ingelheim neighborhood.

The ceremonial introduction of Waßmann-Böhm as broadcasting officer will take place on November 14, 2025 in the Resurrection Community in Mainz. Here she will have the opportunity to further explain and concretize her concept and visions for church proclamation on the radio.

The change not only brings with it new challenges, but also hope for increased visibility of Protestant voices on the radio that help shape opinions. The Evangelisch-im-BR emphasizes that this participation plays a crucial role, especially at a time when religious communities are under pressure due to social changes.