Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland

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Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Republic of Poland
Kościół Ewangelicko-Augsburski w Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej
Protestant
OrientationLutheranism
PolityEpiscopal
Bishop of the ChurchJerzy Samiec
AssociationsConference of European Churches,
Lutheran World Federation,
Polish Ecumenical Council,
World Council of Churches
RegionPoland
Origin16th century
Separated fromCatholic Church
Members61,217[1]
Official websiteOfficial website
Holy Trinity Church, Warsaw, of Evangelical Church of Augsburg Confession in Poland.
Lutheran Church of Peace in Jawor- UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Republic of Poland (

Protestant body in Poland with about 61,000 members and 133 parishes.[1]

History

The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession stems from the

Lutheran dean, Johann Heß, was called to the city of Breslau, whence Lutheranism spread through the Polish lands
.

In

Polish-Czechoslovak War of January 1919. They were later reincorporated in 1938 when Poland annexed Trans-Olza following the Munich Agreement.[2]

The greatest challenge for the church before the outbreak of World War II in 1939 was the problem of nationalism, as about three quarters of all adherents in 1939 were German, and the remaining quarter Polish.[3][5] In the diocese of Łódź, largest in terms of the Lutheran population, more than 98% Lutherans were German, while in Silesia, comparable in terms of the number of adherents, more than 80% were Polish.[5] German believers accused bishop Juliusz Bursche (bishop from 1936) of Polonizing the church,[3] which faced the danger of a split along national lines.[6]

An important moment for the Evangelical-Augsburg church was the issuing of a presidential decree in 1936 which established the nature of the relationship between the church and the state and the former's internal structure.[6] The decree affirmed the territorial division of the church into ten dioceses (Warsaw, Płock, Kalisz, Piotrków, Lublin, Łódź, Volhynia, Vilnius, Silesia and Greater Poland) with a total of 117 parishes.[7]

The church in Poland suffered during and after

Jesus Church in Cieszyn, becoming the first President of Poland ever to visit a Protestant place of worship.[9][10]

Women first began administering baptism, serving as deacons, and leading services in the church in 1999.[11] In 2022 the church ordained women as pastors for the first time.[11]

Contemporary

The church's six dioceses form a wide swath from north to south down the middle of

Warmia-Masuria and Gdańsk in the north, near the Baltic, to the region west and southwest of Kraków in the south, toward the Czech Republic border. Direct descendants of Reformation forebears live in the south, around Upper Silesia. That is also where most Polish Lutherans can be found, with c. 47,000 of the church's followers (about three quarters of all adherents) living in Silesian Voivodeship.[12] The 2011 census data points to a very uneven distribution of the Polish Lutheran population across the country, particularly scarce in the eastern provinces.[13]

The church has 133 parishes, 186 churches and 151 chapels, and is served by 153 pastors and other church workers.[14] Many pastors serve multiple preaching points and are challenged by diverse demands as well as the need for innovation in a rapidly changing society. The congregations are self-governing, and each has its own parish council.

As of 2018, there were 61,217 adherent faithful in the church.

Protestant body in Poland
.

As a Lutheran church in a country that is nearly 90 percent

catechetical
instruction, or in connection with the public schools, where Catholic religious education is part of the curriculum. The main priorities of the church are in deaconic work among single, old, and disabled persons; women's and youth work; and in evangelism.

Followers of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in the Republic of Poland according to the 2011 census
Voivodeship Number of adherents %
POLAND 70766 100
Lower Silesian 2140 3.0
Kuyavian-Pomeranian
 688 1.0
Lublin 339 0.5
Lubusz 630 0.9
Łódź 1462 2.1
Lesser Poland 994 1.4
Masovian 3593 5.1
Opole 1601 2.3
Subcarpathian
 100 0.1
Podlaskie 187 0.3
Pomeranian 921 1.3
Silesian 51009 72.1
Holy Cross 142 0.2
Warmian-Masurian
 4466 6.3
Greater Poland 1300 1.8
West Pomeranian 1194 1.7

Leadership

The senior ordained member of the denomination is called the Bishop of the Church. The office is filled by election, and the Bishop of the Church serves for ten years. He is based at the Church headquarters in Warsaw. The Church's official website describes the role of the Bishop of the Church as: "His service is to minister the Word of God and the Sacraments. He also guards the whole Church (episcope), so that God's Word is proclaimed faithfully and clearly. The Bishop of the Church is the “Pastor of the pastors” (Pastor pastorum)."[16] The office is currently held by Bishop Jerzy Samiec.

Under the Bishop of the Church there are four authoritative bodies. The House of Bishops consists of the Bishop of the Church (Primate) and the six diocesan bishops. The Church Synod is the main decision-making body, and consists of all ordained bishops, 15 representative ordained pastors, and 30 members of laity from across the diocesan synods. The Synod Council is a small standing committee, competent to conduct certain synodical functions between meetings of the full Church Synod. The Consistory of the Church is a senior steering group which has authority to make wide-ranging decisions in terms of the day to day administration of the church. It is chaired by the Bishop of the Church, together with a Vice-President, and six other members (three ordained, three lay).

Jerzy Samiec
№ In office Bishop
1 1904–1942 ks. dr Juliusz Bursche
- 1945–1951 ks. prof. Jan Szeruda
2 1951–1959 ks. dr Karol Kotula
3 1959–1975 ks. prof. Andrzej Wantuła
4 1975–1991 ks. dr Janusz Narzyński
5 1991–2001 ks. dr Jan Szarek
6 2001–2010 ks. Janusz Jagucki
7 2010– ks. Jerzy Samiec

List of Bishops

Churches

Notable Polish Lutherans

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^
    ISSN 1640-3630. Archived
    (PDF) from the original on 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  2. ^ a b Ciecieląg, Jóźwiak and Godfrejów-Tarnogórska, p. 54.
  3. ^ a b c Szczucki, p. 1798.
  4. ^ Ciecieląg, Jóźwiak and Godfrejów-Tarnogórska, p. 55.
  5. ^ a b Ciecieląg, Jóźwiak and Godfrejów-Tarnogórska, p. 65.
  6. ^ a b c Szczucki, p. 1799.
  7. ^ "Dekret Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej z dnia 25 listopada 1936 r. o stosunku Państwa do Kościoła Ewangelicko-Augsburskiego w Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej". Act No. 88/613 of 25 November 1936 (PDF) (in Polish).[permanent dead link]
  8. ^ Bartel, pp. 35-36.
  9. ^ (in Polish) Lech Kaczyński w Wiśle i Cieszynie Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ (in Polish) Prezydent w kościele Jezusowym Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ a b "Poland: First nine women ordained as pastors". The Lutheran World Federation. May 9, 2022. Archived from the original on November 9, 2023. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  12. ^ Ciecieląg, Jóźwiak and Godfrejów-Tarnogórska, p. 25.
  13. ^ Ciecieląg, Jóźwiak and Godfrejów-Tarnogórska, p. 69.
  14. ^ "Statistics: Lutherans in Poland (official website of The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg confession in Poland)". Archived from the original on 2017-06-22. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
  15. ^ Ciecieląg, Jóźwiak and Godfrejów-Tarnogórska, p. 67.
  16. ^ English language version of official website Archived 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine.
  17. ^ a b (in Polish) Większość ewangelików w Polsce jest dumna z tego, że są ewangelikami Archived 2009-03-23 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ (in Polish) MAŁYSZ: Bogu dziękuję! Archived 2008-09-10 at the Wayback Machine

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland.
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