Evangelical Church in Germany

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Evangelical Church in Germany
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Logo of the Evangelical Church in Germany.
Classification Protestant
Orientation Lutheranism,
Calvinism,
United/Reformed
Polity A Federation of numerous regional and denominational churches that practice their own forms of church governance, the Reformed churches typically practice a mixture of Presbyterian and Congregationalist church governance whilst the Lutheran churches typically practice an Episcopal form of church governance, these are all united with each other under the one united EKD synod.
Associations World Council of Churches,
Community of Protestant Churches in Europe
Geographical area Germany
Origin July 1933
Members 25.1 million
EKD redirects here. For the Basque political party, see Democracia Cristiana Vasca.

Evangelical Church in Germany (German: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated as EKD) is a federation of 22 regional Lutheran, Reformed and United Protestant church bodies. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches (Gliedkirchen) share full pulpit and altar fellowship. The EKD has a membership of 25.1 million Germans.

Only one member church (the Evangelical Reformed Church) is not restricted to a certain territory. In a certain way, the other member churches resemble dioceses of the Anglican or Catholic churches from an organisational point of view. However, the member churches of the EKD are independent with their own theological and formal organization. Most member churches are led by a (state) bishop. One of the regional leaders is elected Council Chairman (Ratsvorsitzender) of the EKD by the Synod and Church Conference. All regional churches of the EKD are members of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe.

Contents

[edit] Name

The German term evangelisch more accurately corresponds to the broad English term Protestant rather than to the narrower evangelical (in German called evangelikal), although the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada use the term in the same way as the German church. Literally, evangelisch means "of the Gospel", denoting a Reformation emphasis on sola scriptura, "scripture alone". The EKD is a federation of different, mostly mainstream, Protestant churches rather than one evangelical church.

[edit] History

Before the end of World War I and the collapse of the German Empire, some Lutheran and Evangelical churches were established or state churches (Landeskirchen). Each state church was the official church of its respective state while the local ruler was the church's formal head (e.g. the King of Prussia headed the Evangelical Church of Prussia's older Provinces as supreme governor), similar to the British monarch's role in the Church of England. In states with Catholic monarchs, the Roman Catholic Church fulfilled the role of state church.

This changed somewhat with growing religious freedom in the 19th century, especially in the three republican states of Bremen, Lübeck and Hamburg. The greatest change came after the German Revolution when all of Germany became a republic in 1918, and the princes of the German states abdicated. The system of state churches disappeared with the monarchies, and there was a desire for the Protestant churches to merge. In fact, a merger was permanently under discussion but never materialised due to strong regional self-confidence and traditions as well as the denominational fragmentation into Lutheran, Calvinist and Union churches. During the revolution when the old church governments lost power, the People's Church Union (Volkskirchenbunde) was formed advocating unification without respect to theological tradition and increasing input from laymen. However, the People's Church Union quickly split along territorial lines after the churches' relationship with the government improved.[1]

It was realized that one church for all of Germany was impossible and that any union would need a federal model. The churches met in Dresden in 1919 and created a plan for federation, and this plan was adopted in 1921 at Stuttgart. Then in 1922 the 28 territorially defined Protestant churches founded the German Evangelical Church Union (Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchenbund). At the time, the federation was the largest Protestant church union in Europe with around 40 million members.[1] Because it was a union of independent bodies, the Church Union's work was limited to foreign missions and relations with Protestant churches outside Germany, especially German Protestant's in other countries.

In July 1933, the German Evangelical Church (Deutsche Evangelische Kirche, DEK) was created. Formed under the influence of the German Christians, the National Socialists had much influence over the decisions of the first National Synod, via their unambiguous partisanship in successfully backing Ludwig Müller for the office of Reich bishop. He did not manage, however, to prevail over the Landeskirchen in the long term, and after the installation of Hanns Kerrl as minister for church matters in a Führer-directive of 16 July 1935 and the foundation of the Protestant Reich Church, the DEK played more or less no further role.

In 1948, freed from the German Christians' influence, the Lutheran, Reformed and United churches came together as the Evangelical Church in Germany at the Conference of Eisenach. In 1969, the churches in East Germany broke away from the EKD and formed the League of Evangelical Churches in the German Democratic Republic (Bund der Evangelischen Kirchen in der DDR, BEK). In June 1991, following German reunification, the BEK merged with the EKD.

While the members are no longer established churches, they are still called Landeskirchen, and most have this term in their official names. A modern English translation, however, would be regional church. Apart from some minor changes, the territories of the member churches today reflect Germany's political organisation in the year 1848, with state churches for states or provinces that no longer exist. For example in 1947, the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union split into provincial churches for each Prussian province following the state of Prussia's dissolution according to the Treaty of Potsdam.

[edit] Membership

Protestantism is the major religion in Northern and Eastern Germany: the Reformed branch in the extreme northwest and the Lutheran branch in most of the rest. While the majority of Christians in Southern Germany are Roman 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 25,100,727 members in 2006,[2] around 30 percent of all Germans belong to the EKD.[3]

Margot Käßmann

Important Protestant denominations that are not part of the Evangelical Church in Germany include the Evangelical Methodist Church, the Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Baptists organized in the Union of Protestant Free-Churches (Bund evangelisch-freikirchlicher Gemeinden), Pentecostals organized in the Union of Pentecostal Free-Churches (Bund Freier Pfingstgemeinden), Seventh-day Adventist Church and the New Apostolic Church.

[edit] Structure and practices

The structure of the EKD is based on federal principles. Each local church is responsible for Christian life in its own area while each regional church has its own special characteristics and retains its independence. The Church 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
  • Council of the EKD
  • Church Conference (permanent body)

The Synod is the legislature of the EKD. It has 126 members - 106 elected by Landeskirchen synods and 20 appointed by the Council. 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. The Church Conference is where member churches, through the representatives of their governing boards, can directly participate in the work of the EKD.

The Council of the EKD has 15 members jointly elected by the Synod and Church Conference who serve terms of six years. The Council meets 10 to 11 times a year. It has authority in all areas not reserved to other bodies and also issues regular reports on the work of EDK bodies. Margot Käßmann, Bishop of the Evangelical Church of Hanover, has been Chairperson of the Council of the EKD since 2009 and is the first woman to head the EKD.[4]

Ordination of women is practiced in all 22 churches within the Evangelical Church in Germany, and many women have been ordained in recent years. There are also several female bishops. Blessing of same-sex unions is practiced in some churches.

[edit] Member churches

The 21 member churches associated with a geographical territory. Click image for legend.

The umbrella of the Evangelical Church in Germany comprises 22 regional churches, two Reformed (Calvinist), nine Lutheran and 11 united (Lutheran-Reformed) bodies.

  1. Evangelical State Church of Anhalt (Evangelische Landeskirche Anhalts), a united church body
  2. Evangelical State Church of Baden (Evangelische Landeskirche in Baden), a united church body
  3. Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern), a Lutheran church body
  4. Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (Evangelische Kirche in Berlin-Brandenburg-schlesische Oberlausitz), a united church body
    - originated 2004 from:
    • Evangelical Church in Berlin-Brandenburg (Evangelische Kirche in Berlin-Brandenburg)
    • Evangelical Church of Silesian Upper Lusatia (Evangelische Kirche der schlesischen Oberlausitz)
  5. Evangelical Lutheran State Church in Brunswick (Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche in Braunschweig), a Lutheran church body
  6. Bremian Evangelical Church (Bremische Evangelische Kirche), a united church body
  7. Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover (Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Hannovers), a Lutheran church body
  8. Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau (Evangelische Kirche in Hessen und Nassau), a united church body
  9. Evangelical Church of Hesse-Kassel and Waldeck (Evangelische Kirche von Kurhessen-Waldeck), a united church body
  10. Lippe State Church (Lippische Landeskirche), a Reformed church body
  11. Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Mecklenburg (Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Mecklenburgs), a Lutheran church body
  12. Evangelical Church in Central Germany (Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland), a united church body
    - originated 2009 from:
  13. North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church (Nordelbische Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche), a Lutheran church body
  14. Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg (Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Oldenburg), a Lutheran church body
  15. Evangelical Church of the Palatinate (Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz or Protestantische Landeskirche), a united church body
  16. Pomeranian Evangelical Church (Pommersche Evangelische Kirche), a united church body
  17. Evangelical Church in the Rhineland (Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland), a united church body
  18. Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Saxony (Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Sachsens), a Lutheran church body
  19. Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Schaumburg-Lippe (Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Schaumburg-Lippe), a Lutheran church body
  20. Evangelical Church of Westphalia (Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen), a united church body
  21. Evangelical State Church in Württemberg (Evangelische Landeskirche in Württemberg), a Lutheran church body
  22. Evangelical Reformed Church - Synod of Reformed Churches in Bavaria and Northwestern Germany (Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche - Synode evangelisch-reformierter Kirchen in Bayern und Nordwestdeutschland), a Reformed church body, covering the territories of No. 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 14, and 19

The Moravian Church and the Federation of Evangelical Reformed Congregations are associate members.

[edit] Related organizations

EKD member churches may also be involved the following independent organisations:

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Christians in Germany 2006
  3. ^ Statistical information "Zahlen und Fakten zum kirchlichen Leben" (EKD)
  4. ^ Deutsche Welle, 2009-10-28. German Protestant Church elects first woman as its leader. Retrieved 2009-10-29.

[edit] External links


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