Protestant Church in Germany

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Evangelical Church in Germany
)
"EKD" redirects here. For other uses, see EKD (disambiguation).
Protestant Church in Germany
Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland
Community of Protestant Churches in Europe
RegionGermany
Origin1948; 76 years ago (1948)[2]
Members2020 EKD data:
20.2 million
~49.7% United Protestant (Lutheran and Reformed)
~48.7% Lutheran
~1.5% Reformed[3][4][5]
Official websitewww.ekd.de

The Protestant Church in Germany (

largest Protestant bodies in the world. Church offices managing the federation are located in Herrenhausen, Hanover, Lower Saxony
. Many of its members consider themselves Lutherans.

Historically, the first formal attempt to unify German Protestantism occurred during the Weimar Republic era in the form of the German Protestant Church Confederation, which existed from 1922 until 1933. Earlier, there had been successful royal efforts at unity in various German states, beginning with Prussia and several minor German states (e.g. Duchy of Nassau) in 1817. These unions resulted in the first united and uniting churches, a new development within Protestantism which later spread to other parts of the world. When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, his administration tried to reorganize the old confederation into a unified German Evangelical Church as Hitler wanted to use a single Protestant church to further his own ambitions. However, a division emerged between the Reichskirche, led by the pro-government German Christians, and the Confessing Church, which opposed state control of the church. Other Protestant churches aligned themselves with one of these groups, or stayed neutral in this church strife. The postwar church council issued the Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt on 19 October 1945, confessing guilt and declaring remorse for indifference and inaction of German Protestants in the face of atrocities committed by Hitler's regime. In 1948, the Protestant Church in Germany was organized in the aftermath of World War II to function as a new umbrella organization for German Protestant churches. As a result of tensions between West and East Germany, the regional churches in East Germany broke away from the EKD in 1969. In 1991, following German reunification, the East German churches re-joined the EKD.

The member churches (Gliedkirchen), while being independent and having their own theological and formal organisation, share full

congregationalist polities. Most member churches are led by a (state) bishop. Only one member church, the Evangelical Reformed Church in Germany, is not restricted to a certain territory. In some ways, the other member churches resemble dioceses of the Catholic and Anglican
churches, from an organisational point of view.

Name

The German term evangelisch more accurately corresponds to the broad English term Protestant

Protestant Reformation emphasis on sola scriptura, "by scripture alone". Martin Luther
encouraged the use of this term alongside Christian.

History

Catholicism and Lutheranism
) in the German-speaking states of the Holy Roman Empire.

From the

British monarch's role as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England
.

This changed somewhat with growing religious freedom in the 19th century, especially in the

Reformed, and United and uniting churches
.

During the Revolution, when the old church governments lost power, the People's Church Union (Volkskirchenbund) was formed and advocated unification without respect to theological tradition and also increasing input from

laymen. However, the People's Church Union quickly split along territorial lines after the churches' relationship with the new governments improved.[9]

It was realised that one mainstream Protestant church for all of Germany was impossible and that any union would need a federal model. The churches met in

German Evangelical Church Confederation (Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchenbund, DEK). At the time, the federation was the largest Protestant church federation in Europe with around 40 million members.[9]
Because it was a federation of independent bodies, the Church Union's work was limited to foreign missions and relations with Protestant churches outside Germany, especially German Protestants in other countries.

In July 1933, the German Evangelical Church (Deutsche Evangelische Kirche, DEK) was formed under the influence of the

Protestant Reich Church
, the DEK played more or less no further role.

Synodal elections 1933: German Christians and Confessing Church campaigners in Berlin.

In 1948, freed from the German Christians' influence, the Lutheran, Reformed (including the German Reformed Church / Reformierte Kirche) and United churches came together as the Protestant Church in Germany at the Conference of Eisenach. In 1969, the regional Protestant churches in East Germany and East Berlin[10] broke away from the EKD and formed the League of Evangelical Churches in the German Democratic Republic (German: Bund der Evangelischen Kirchen in der DDR, BEK), in 1970 also joined by the Moravian Herrnhut District. In June 1991, following German reunification, the BEK merged with the EKD.

While the members are no longer state churches, they enjoy constitutional protection as

Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union assumed independence as a consequence of the estrangement among them during the Nazi struggle of the churches
. This turned the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union into a mere umbrella, being itself a member of EKD (and the BEK, 1969–1991) but covering some regional church bodies, which were again themselves members of EKD (and the BEK, 1969–1991).

Since 1973, when many Protestant churches in Europe, including the EKD members, concluded the

Leuenberg Agreement, also the then 21 EKD members[11] introduced full communion
for their parishioners and ministry among each other.

Since also the regional Protestant churches in East Germany had signed the Leuenberg Agreement, thus the then ten members of the Federation of Protestant Churches in the German Democratic Republic practised full communion with the EKD members too.

Blessing of same-sex unions are allowed in all other member churches.[13]
[14] The EKD opposes abortion in most situations but believes it should remain legal.[15]

The EKD has undergone a split in the 20th century and lost a bulk of its adherents in

state atheist
policies of the former East German government. After 1990, membership was counted and amounted to around the same number as the Roman Catholic Church. In the 21st century, membership in both the Evangelical Church and the Roman Catholic Church stagnates as more people are becoming religious nones.

A 2019 study estimated that there were 114,000 unreported victims of sexual abuse in the EKD and the Catholic Church in Germany combined. The 95% confidence interval comprises 28,000 to 280,000 victims.[16][17] According to a study published in 2024, pedophilic members of the EKD have sexually abused at least 9,355 minors since 1946. Putting this figure into context, the coordinator of the study clarified that this number of cases was only the tip of the iceberg.[18] The average age of the victims is 11 years.[19]

Membership

Confessions of EKD parishioners

  
Reformed
(3%)
Member churches by confession

Protestantism is the major religion in

Western Germany. While the majority of Christians in Southern Germany are Catholic, some areas in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria are predominantly Protestant, e.g. Middle Franconia and the government region of Stuttgart. The vast majority of German Protestants belong to a member church of the EKD. With 20,236,000 members in 2020, around 24.3 percent of all Germans belong to a member church of the EKD.[4] Average church attendance is lower, however, with only around a million people (1.2 % of all Germans) attending a service on Sunday.[20]

The regional Protestant church bodies accept each other as equals, despite denominational differences. No member church runs congregations or churches in the area of another member church, thus preventing competing with each other for parishioners. The only exception is the Evangelical Reformed Church, which combines Reformed congregations within the ambits of usually Lutheran member churches, which themselves do not include the eventual local Reformed congregations. Thus, for example, a Lutheran moving from a place where their parish belongs to a Lutheran member church, would be accepted in their new place of domicile by the locally competent congregation within another member church, even if this church and its local parish are Reformed or of united Protestant confession, with Lutheran being exchangeable with the two other respective Protestant confessions within the EKD. This is due to full altar and pulpit fellowship between all EKD member churches.

In this the ambits of the member churches resemble

Roman Catholic churches, however, else there is no common hierarchy supervising the member churches, who are legally independent equals with the EKD being their umbrella. Members of congregations within the member churches – like those of parishes within Catholic dioceses and those enrolled in Jewish congregations also enjoying statutory corporation status – are required to pay a church tax
, a surcharge on their normal income tax collected by the states of Germany and passed on to the respective religious body.

2011 census results by state

State [21] Church membership (
2011
)		 Percentage of the population
 Schleswig-Holstein 1,550,200 55.7%
 Lower Saxony 3,976,430 51.5%
 Bremen 279,180 43.2%
 Hesse 2,426,990 40.8%
 Baden-Württemberg 3,552,450 34.1%
 Hamburg 573,960 33.9%
 Rhineland-Palatinate 1,260,720 31.8%
 Germany 24,552,110 30.8%
 North Rhine-Westphalia 4,974,240 28.5%
 Thuringia 529,010 24.3%
 Berlin 706,650 21.6%
 Saxony 856,340 21.4%
 Bavaria 2,592,550 21.1%
 Saarland 199,240 20.1%
 Brandenburg 448,970 18.4%
 Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 280,500 17.7%
 Saxony-Anhalt 344,680 15.2%

Gallery

  • EKD Protestants according to the 2011 census.
    EKD Protestants according to the 2011 census.
  • Red denotes states in which EKD Protestants outnumber Catholics.
    Red denotes states in which EKD Protestants outnumber Catholics.
  • Flag of the Protestant Church in Germany.
    Flag of the Protestant Church in Germany.
  • Another version, as used by German Protestants.
    Another version, as used by German Protestants.
  • EKD church office in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany.
    EKD church office in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany.
  • EKD's internal organization.
    EKD's internal organization.

Structure

The structure of the EKD is based on federal principles. Each regional church is responsible for Christian life in its own area while each regional church has its own special characteristics and retains its independence. The EKD carries out joint tasks with which its members have entrusted it. For the execution of these tasks, the Church has the following governing bodies, all organised and elected on democratic lines:

Synod

The Synod is the legislature of the EKD. It has 126 members: 106 elected by Landeskirchen synods and 20 appointed by the council.[22] These 20 are appointed for their importance in the life of the Church and its agencies. Members serve six year terms and the synod meets annually.

Praesides of the Synod

Irmgard Schwaetzer, praeses of the synod till 2021
1949–1955: Gustav Heinemann
1955–1961: Constantin von Dietze
1961–1970: Hans Puttfarcken [de]
1970–1973: Ludwig Raiser
1973–1985: Cornelius von Heyl
1985–2003: Jürgen Schmude
2003–2009: Barbara Rinke
2009–2013: Katrin Göring-Eckardt
2013–2021: Irmgard Schwaetzer
since 2021: Anna-Nicole Heinrich

Council of the EKD

The EKD Council is the representative and governing body of the Protestant Church in Germany. The Council of the EKD has 15 members jointly elected by the Synod and Church Conference who serve terms of six years.[23]

Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, former chairman of the Council of the EKD.

Chairperson of the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany

The chairperson of the Council is the church's highest representative.[24]

1945–1949: Theophil Wurm, Bishop, Württemberg
1949–1961:
Otto Dibelius
, bishop of Berlin-Brandenburg
1961–1967: Kurt Scharf, president, bishop from 1966, Berlin-Brandenburg
1967–1973: Hermann Dietzfelbinger [de], Bishop, Bavaria
1973–1979: Helmut Claß [de], Bishop, Württemberg
1979–1985: Eduard Lohse [de], Bishop, Hanover
1985–1991: Martin Kruse [de], bishop of Berlin-Brandenburg
1991–1997: Klaus Engelhardt [de], Bishop, Baden
1997–2003: Manfred Kock, president, Rhineland
2003–2009: Wolfgang Huber, bishop of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia
2009–2010: Margot Käßmann, bishop of Hanover
2010–2014: Nikolaus Schneider, president, Rhineland
2014–2021: Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, Bishop, Bavaria
2021–2023: Annette Kurschus, Bishop of Westphalia[25]

Church Conference (permanent body)

The Church Conference is where member churches, through the representatives of their governing boards, can directly participate in the work of the EKD.[26]

Church Office of the EKD

The Church Office is the administration of the EKD and shall the business of the Synod, Council and Conference of the EKD.[27]

Main divisions:

  • I = line, law and finance: President Hans Ulrich Anke [de]
  • II = Religious Activities and Education: Vice President Thies Gundlach (since 2010)
  • III = Public Responsibility: Vice President Horst Gorski (also head of the Office of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany) (since 2007)
  • IV = ecumenism and working abroad: Vice President Bishop
    Union of Evangelical Churches
    ) (since 2014)

President

The EKD Church Office has approximately 200 employees.

International activities

The EKD holds various charities ("Hilfswerke") under its auspices. The Gustav-Adolf-Werk (GAW) (Gustaphus Adolphus Union formerly) was founded 1832 in Leipzig as the first and eldest such organization and is responsible to aid feeble sister churches, especially in Roman Catholic countries and the Protestant diaspora. It has separate branches internationally, the organization in Austria is still called the Gustav-Adolf-Verein.[28] Brot für die Welt is responsible for international development aid.

Member churches (since 2012)

Member churches of the Protestant Church in Germany (after the fusion of the Evangelical churches of Mecklenburg, North Elbia and Pomerania in 2012).

The umbrella of the Protestant Church in Germany comprises 20 regional churches:

  • 10
    United Protestant
    (Lutheran and Reformed)
  • 8
    Lutheran
  • 2
    Reformed

These bodies are termed Landeskirchen ("Regional Churches")[29] though in most cases, their territories do not correspond to the current federal states, but rather to former duchies, electorates and provinces or mergers thereof.

  1. Anhalt
  2. Protestant Church in Baden (Evangelische Landeskirche in Baden), a united church body in Baden
  3. Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern), a Lutheran church body in Bavaria
  4. Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia
    (Evangelische Kirche in Berlin-Brandenburg-schlesische Oberlausitz), a united church body in Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia merged in 2004 from:
  5. Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick (Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche in Braunschweig), a Lutheran church body in Brunswick
  6. Evangelical Church of Bremen (Bremische Evangelische Kirche), a united church body in Bremen
  7. Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover (Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Hannovers), a Lutheran church body in the former Province of Hanover
  8. Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau (Evangelische Kirche in Hessen und Nassau), a united church body in the former People's State of Hesse and Nassau
  9. Waldeck
  10. Lippe
  11. Evangelical Church in Central Germany (Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland), a united church body that was created in 2009 from the merger of:
  12. Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Norddeutschland), a Lutheran church body that was created in 2012 from the merger of:
  13. Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg (Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Oldenburg), a Lutheran church body in Oldenburg
  14. Evangelical Church of the Palatinate (Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz) or Protestantische Landeskirche, a united church body in Palatinate
  15. Evangelical Church in the Rhineland (Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland), a united church body in the Rhineland
  16. Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony (Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Sachsens), a Lutheran church body in Saxony
  17. Schaumburg-Lippe
  18. Evangelical Church of Westphalia (Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen), a united church body in Westphalia
  19. Evangelical Church in Württemberg (Evangelische Landeskirche in Württemberg), a Lutheran church body in Württemberg
  20. Evangelical Reformed Church (Regional Church)
    Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche (Landeskirche), a Reformed church body, covering the territories of No. 3, 5, 7, 12, 16, 17, and 19

The Moravian Church ("Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine") and the Federation of Evangelical Reformed Congregations are associate members.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Kirsten Fehrs, amtierende Ratsvorsitzende der EKD [Kirsten Fehrs, present chair of the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany]" (in German). Hanover: Protestant Church in Germany. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  2. ^ a b EKD-Internearbeit (5 May 2015). "Short History". Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  3. ^ www.reformiert-info.de(in German)
  4. ^ a b "Gezählt 2021 – Zahlen und Fakten zum kirchlichen Leben" (PDF). ekd.de. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
  5. ^ The percentages of specific denominations are approximate.
  6. ^ "Protestant Church in Germany". Hanover. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  7. ^ "Christinnen und Christen in Deutschland". www.ekd.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  8. ^ Peter Terrell, Harper Collins German Unabridged Dictionary, 4th ed., (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1999), 273 sub loco.
  9. ^ a b D. Karl Bornhausen, "The Present Status of the Protestant Churches in Germany," The Journal of Religion, Vol. 3, No. 5 (Sep. 1923), 501–524.
  10. Evangelical Church of the Union
    (East Region, for EKiBB-East Ambit, Görlitz, Greifswald and KPS, and since 1970 for Anhalt too).
  11. Evangelical Church of the Union (West Region, for EKiBB-West Ambit, Rhineland, and Westphalia), Evangelical Church of Westphalia, and Evangelical Church in Württemberg
    .
  12. ^ Deutsche Welle, 2009-10-28. German Protestant Church elects first woman as its leader. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  13. ^ Ökumenische Arbeitsgruppe Homosexuelle und Kirche (HuK) e. V.: Möglichkeiten der kirchlichen Segnung gleichgeschlechtlicher Paare Archived 2017-06-17 at the Wayback Machine, 25 April 2016.
  14. ^ Johannes Süßmann, Anne Kampf: Segnung Homosexueller: Bunt wie ein Regenbogen. Evangelisch.de, 14 January 2016.
  15. ^ "Gott ist ein Freund des Lebens".
  16. ^ "Ulmer Studie: 114.000 Menschen wurden Opfer sexueller Gewalt durch katholische Priester". www.schwaebische.de (in German). 2019-03-13. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
  17. ^ Fegert, Jörg M. (2019-03-19). Sexueller Missbrauch – Einblicke in ein erschütterndes Thema (PDF). Universitätsklinikum Ulm. p. 143.
  18. ^ "9355 Missbrauchsopfer seit 1946".
  19. ^ Redaktion (2024-01-26). "Missbrauch bei der evangelischen Kirche: Opfer im Schnitt elf Jahre alt". News4teachers (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-08.
  20. ^ EKD: Services of Worship and Holy Communion 2006 Archived 2011-06-17 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 16 March 2010.
  21. ^ "Zensusdatenbank – Ergebnisse des Zensus 2011". Archived from the original on 5 June 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  22. ^ § 24 of the Basic Order (Grundordnung) of the Evangelical Church (http://www.kirchenrecht-ekd.de/showdocument/id/3435#s1.100042)
  23. ^ § 29, §30 of the Basic Order (Grundordnung) of the Evangelical Church (http://www.kirchenrecht-ekd.de/showdocument/id/3435#s1.100049)
  24. ^ "Rat der EKD [Council of the Protestant Church in Germany]". EKD Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (in German). Hanover: Protestant Church in Germany. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
  25. ^ Splitt, Carsten. "Annette Kurschus als EKD-Ratsvorsitzende zurückgetreten [Annette Kurschus has stepped down as Chair of the Council of the Protestant Church in Germany]". EKD Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (in German). Hanover: Press Office of the Protestant Church in Germany. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  26. ^ § 28 of the Basic Order (Grundordnung) of the Evangelical Church (http://www.kirchenrecht-ekd.de/showdocument/id/3435#s1.100049)
  27. ^ § 31 of the Basic Order (Grundordnung) of the Evangelical Church (http://www.kirchenrecht-ekd.de/showdocument/id/3435#s1.100049)
  28. ^ "Startseite – Gustav-Adolf-Werk e.V." (in German). Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  29. ^ EKD-Internearbeit (24 March 2015). "Regional Churches". Archived from the original on 2015-07-09. Retrieved 8 July 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Evangelical Church in Germany.