Evangelical Church in the Rhineland
Evangelical Church in the Rhineland (German: Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland) is a united Protestant church body in parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Hesse (Wetzlar). This is actually the area covered by the former Prussian Rhine Province until 1920. It is the most important Protestant denomination in this area. The seat of the church is in Düsseldorf. The church leader is not called "bishop", but praeses (German: Präses) and there is no cathedral.
Evangelical Church in the Rhineland is a full member of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), and is a Prussian Union Church. The current praeses is Manfred Rekowski. The Evangelical Church in the Rhineland is one of 23 Lutheran, united and Reformed churches of the EKD. As of January 2006, the church has around 2,936,700 members in 809 parishes.
The Evangelical Church in the Rhineland is a member of the UEK and the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe. In Bonn the church runs a conference venue called Evangelische Akademie Bonn-Bad Godesberg.
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History [edit]
The Evangelical Church in the Rhineland emerged on November 12, 1948, when the Ecclesiastical Province of the Rhineland within the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union assumed its independence as church body of its own.
Some theological statements [edit]
The theological teaching goes back on Martin Luther. The Ordination of women is allowed, the blessing of same-sex unions has been allowed by the synod and depends on the local church administration (German: Presbyterium, English: presbytery).
Elected Leader [edit]
The election of the synod is for four years. The elected leader (praeses) of the synod (Landessynode) is also leader of the church.
Leading persons in history [edit]
The leading organ of the church is the synod, which meets each year in January since 1975 in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler (before 1975 in Bad Godesberg).
- 1835 - 1846: Franz Friedrich Gräber
- 1847 - 1851: Georg August Ludwig Schmidtborn
- 1853 - 1860: Johann Heinrich Wiesmann
- 1862 - 1864: Johann Karl Friedrich Maaß
- 1865 - 1877: Friedrich Nieden
- 1877 - 1888: Stephan Friedrich Evertsbusch
- 1890 - 1893: Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand Kirschstein
- 1893 - 1898: Valentin Umbeck
- 1899 - 1905: Friedrich Wilhelm Schürmann
- 1908 - 1912: Albert Hackenberg
- 1914 - 1917: Georg Hafner
- 1919 - 1932: Friedrich Walter Paul Wolff
- 1932 - 1934: Friedrich Schäfer
- 1934 - 1935: Paul Humburg
- 1935 - 1948: Friedrich Horn
- 1948 - 1957: Heinrich Karl Ewald Held
- 1958 - 1971: Joachim Wilhelm Beckmann
- 1971 - 1981: Karl Immer
- 1981 - 1989: Gerhard Brandt
- 1989 - 1996: Peter Beier
- 1996 - 1997: Hans Ulrich Stephan, Oberkirchenrat und amtierender Präses
- 1997 - 2003: Manfred Kock
- 2003 - 2013: Nikolaus Schneider
- 2013 - today: Manfred Rekowski
Books [edit]
- Evangelisches Gesang-Buch
- Evangelisches Gesangbuch of Rhineland and Westfalia, Dortmund 1883
- Evangelisches Gesangbuch of Rhineland and Westfalia, Dortmund 1929
- Evangelisches Kirchengesangbuch, Edition of churches in Rhineland, Westfalia and Lippe, Bielefeld, 1969
External links [edit]
- http://www.ekir.de/ (Evangelical Church in the Rhineland)
- http://www.ekd.de (Evangelical Church in Germany)
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