Oestreicher spent from 1958 to 1959 as assistant guest pastor to the German Protestant Church in Rüsselsheim in the church province of
Hessen-Nassau, at the invitation of Church President
Martin Niemöller. In 1959 he was ordained deacon in
St Paul's Cathedral London and priest a year later. He served as curate in the parish of
Holy Trinity Church, Dalston in east London, where he was trained by vicar Stanley Evans, a founding member of the Christian Socialist Movement, now
Christians on the Left. From 1961 to 1964 he was a Features Producer in the BBC religious broadcasting department, winning an American Radio Award for a programme on abortion. From 1964 to 1969 he was the Secretary of the East-West Relations Advisory Committee of the
British Council of Churches, continuing this role in an honorary capacity until 1985. He took an active part early on in the
Christian Peace Conference (Prague) and in 1964 was elected to its executive committee. On account of his critique of Soviet policies he was expelled from the Executive in 1968. He said his 'parish' stretched from East Berlin to Vladivostok, and he paid 77 pastoral visits to
East Germany before the fall of the
Berlin Wall. He was a member of the
General Synod of the Church of England from 1970–81 and 1995–97. From 1968 to 1981 Oestreicher was appointed the parish priest of the Church of the Ascension,
Blackheath by
John Robinson (bishop of Woolwich). During this time he appointed Deaconess Elsie Baker to lead the pastoral work of the parish, well ahead of the ordination of women to the priesthood. The Church of England eventually ordained her in her 85th year. Oestreicher was a founding member of the
Movement for the Ordination of Women. In 1974 in his personal capacity, he was invited by the West German Minister of Justice, and the families of the prisoners, to help bring to an end a long-lasting hunger strike by the imprisoned members of the
Red Army Faction, which had led to deaths inside and, in retaliation, outside the prison system. This entailed mediating between Attorney-General
Siegfried Buback and the prisoners. Although partially successful, this mission did not prevent the subsequent deaths of the leading RAF prisoners. In 1979 he encouraged
Helen Bamber to set up the
Medical Foundation for Care of Victims of Torture. In 1995 he became President of
Action by Christians Against Torture. From 1981 to 1985 he was Director of the Division of International Affairs of the
British Council of Churches. As part of this work, in cooperation with the
South African Council of Churches, he was actively involved in the
Anti-Apartheid Movement. Later, at the invitation of
Desmond Tutu, he helped to bring an end to the armed conflict between the
African National Congress and
Mangosuthu Buthelezi's
Inkatha Freedom Party. During this period he became a member of the
Society of Friends. He made a substantial contribution to the work of the Dresden Trust, which raised funds in the UK for the reconstruction of the
Frauenkirche in
Dresden. In 1985 the Diocesan Synod elected Oestreicher Bishop of
Wellington, New Zealand. The Anglican Church leadership declined to ratify this election. From 1985–1997, Oestreicher was Canon Residentiary and Director of the
International Centre for Reconciliation at Coventry Cathedral UK. This enabled him to further the work of the Community of the Cross of Nails. After his retirement, he continued to work in an advisory role with his successor
Andrew White (priest). In 1993, he spent a sabbatical year as Humboldt Fellow at the
Free University of Berlin, studying Church-state relations in
East Germany. After his retirement in 1998 Oestreicher continued to work at Coventry Cathedral in an advisory capacity, remaining Canon
Emeritus. His wife Lore died in 2000. He then moved to
Brighton, and in 2002 married his second wife, the New Zealander
Barbara Einhorn, a professor of
Gender Studies at the
University of Sussex. They first met after Oestreicher helped get Einhorn released from arrest and imprisonment by the
Stasi for befriending a women's dissident peace group. In 2010, Einhorn and Oestreicher both taught for one semester at the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies,
University of Otago, of which they are still Research Affiliates. He and Einhorn are amongst the founding members of
Jews for Justice for Palestinians. From 2004 to 2009 Oestreicher was honorary Quaker chaplain to the
University of Sussex. In 2011, Oestreicher held the keynote speech on the abolition of war at the
World Council of Churches International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) in
Kingston, Jamaica. A lifelong pacifist, Oestreicher was co-founder of the
Anglican Pacifist Fellowship in New Zealand, and remains a Counsellor of APF UK. In 1959 he joined the
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and is still one of its Vice-Presidents. He joined
Amnesty International at its inception in 1961 and was Chair of AI UK from 1975 to 1979. In 2020 Oestreicher returned to
New Zealand with his wife. They live in
Wellington. Oestreicher was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the
2022 Birthday Honours for services to peace, human rights and reconciliation. ==Awards==