Bishop Paulo de Tarso Oliveira Lockmann has been a member of the Presbyter Order of the Methodist Church in Brazil since 1978 and was elected Bishop of the First Ecclesiastical Region (Rio de Janeiro) in 1987. He has been re-elected four times. Bishop Lockmann was the former Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church in Brazil from January 1988-December 2001. He also has served as the President of the Council of Evangelical Methodist Churches in Latin American and Caribbean (CIEMAL). He has authored several books and Bible studies. His experience with the World Methodist Council includes his service as a member of the Presidium of the World Methodist Council for the period of 1996-2001, service as Vice-President 2006-2011 and a member of the Committee on Evangelism since 1990. Bishop Lockmann has a deep evangelistic passion and the Rio Ecclesiastical Region has grown from 25,000 members to 100,000 in 2010.

Born in the south of Brazil, Lockmann speaks both Portuguese and German and obtained his Ph.D at both the Marbourg Theological School in Germany and the Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro. He is married to Gloucia and they have four children, two grandchildren and are expecting two more in the near future.

[September 2016]

Source: World Methodist Council