Evangelical Church in Germany
Encyclopedia
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation
of 22 Lutheran, Unified (Prussian Union)
and Reformed
(Calvinist) Protestant regional church bodies
in Germany. 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 24.832 million parishioners or 30.2% of the German population (status 31 December 2007). Membership rates fell in 2008 to 24.515 million parishioners or 29.9% by the end of 2008.
Only one member church (the Evangelical Reformed Church) is not restricted to a certain territory. In a certain way, the other member churches resemble diocese
s of the Anglican or Roman Catholic churches from an organisational point of view. However, the member churches of the EKD are independent with their own theological and formal organisation. 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
.
, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England
use the term in the same way as the German church. Literally, means "of the Gospel", denoting a Protestant Reformation
emphasis on , "by scripture alone".
1555 until the end of World War I
and the collapse of the German Empire
, some Protestant churches were state church
es. Each (regional church) was the official church of one of the states of Germany
while the respective 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
.
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
with the formation of the Weimar Republic
and the abdication of the princes of the German states. 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 materialized due to strong regional self-confidence and traditions as well as the denominational fragmentation into Lutheran, Reformed and United churches. During the revolution when the old church governments lost power, the People's Church Union 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.
It was realized that one mainstream Protestant 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 . At the time, the federation was the largest Protestant church union in Europe with around 40 million members. 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 Protestants in other countries.
In July 1933, the German Evangelical Church 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 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 . In June 1991, following German reunification
, the BEK merged with the EKD.
While the members are no longer established churches, they are still called , and some 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 between 1945 and 1948, the remaining six ecclesiastical provinces , each territorially comprising one of the Old Prussia
provinces, within the 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 but covering some regional church bodies, which were again themselves members of EKD.
, Eastern and Middle Germany
: the Reformed
branch in the extreme northwest and Lippe
, the Lutheran branch in the north and south, and the United
branch in Middle and Western Germany
. 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, around 30 percent of all Germans belong to a member church of the EKD. Average church attendance is lower, however, with only around a million people attending a service on Sunday.
Important Protestant denominations that are not part of the Evangelical Church in Germany include the United Methodist Church
, the Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church
, Baptists organised in the Union of Evangelical Free Church Congregations in Germany
(Bund evangelisch-freikirchlicher Gemeinden), Pentecostals organised in the Union of Pentecostal Free-Churches (Bund Freier Pfingstgemeinden), the Union of the Free Evangelical Churches in Germany (Bund Freier evangelischer Gemeinden in Deutschland), Seventh-day Adventist Church
and the New Apostolic Church
.
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:
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 EKD bodies.
Ordination of women
is practised in all 22 member churches with many women having been ordained in recent years. There are also several female bishops. Margot Käßmann
, former Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover and Chairperson of the Council of the EKD from 2009 until February 2010, was the first woman to head the EKD. Blessing of same-sex unions is practised in 10 member churches.
(Lutheran-Reformed) bodies. These bodies are termed Landeskirche
n ("Regional Churches") 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.
The Moravian Church and the Federation of Evangelical Reformed Congregations are associate members.
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
of 22 Lutheran, Unified (Prussian Union)
Prussian Union (Evangelical Christian Church)
The Prussian Union was the merger of the Lutheran Church and the Reformed Church in Prussia, by a series of decrees – among them the Unionsurkunde – by King Frederick William III...
and Reformed
Reformed churches
The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin...
(Calvinist) Protestant regional church bodies
Landeskirche
In Germany and Switzerland, a Landeskirche is the church of a region. They originated as the national churches of the independent states, States of Germany or Cantons of Switzerland , that later unified to form modern Germany or modern Switzerland , respectively.-Origins in the Holy Roman...
in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
differences. However, the member churches (Gliedkirchen) share full pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
and altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
fellowship
Full communion
In Christian ecclesiology, full communion is a relationship between church organizations or groups that mutually recognize their sharing the essential doctrines....
. The EKD has a membership of 24.832 million parishioners or 30.2% of the German population (status 31 December 2007). Membership rates fell in 2008 to 24.515 million parishioners or 29.9% by the end of 2008.
Only one member church (the Evangelical Reformed Church) is not restricted to a certain territory. In a certain way, the other member churches resemble diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
s of the Anglican or Roman Catholic churches from an organisational point of view. However, the member churches of the EKD are independent with their own theological and formal organisation. Most member churches are led by a (state) bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
. 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
Community of Protestant Churches in Europe
The Community of Protestant Churches in Europe is a fellowship of over 100 Protestant churches which have signed the Leuenberg Agreement. Together they strive for realizing church fellowship, especially by cooperation in witness and service to the world...
.
Name
The German term here more accurately corresponds to the broad English term Protestant rather than to the narrower evangelical (in German called ), although the Evangelical Lutheran Church in AmericaEvangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a mainline Protestant denomination headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA officially came into existence on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three churches. As of December 31, 2009, it had 4,543,037 baptized members, with 2,527,941 of them...
, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada is Canada's largest Lutheran denomination, with 152,788 baptized members in 624 congregations, with the second largest, the Lutheran Church–Canada, having 72,116 baptized members...
and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of England
Evangelical Lutheran Church of England
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of England is a confessional Lutheran synod in the United Kingdom. It has congregations in England, Wales and Scotland....
use the term in the same way as the German church. Literally, means "of the Gospel", denoting a Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
emphasis on , "by scripture alone".
History
Since the Peace of AugsburgPeace of Augsburg
The Peace of Augsburg, also called the Augsburg Settlement, was a treaty between Charles V and the forces of the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Lutheran princes, on September 25, 1555, at the imperial city of Augsburg, now in present-day Bavaria, Germany.It officially ended the religious...
1555 until the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the collapse of the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, some Protestant churches were state church
State church
State churches are organizational bodies within a Christian denomination which are given official status or operated by a state.State churches are not necessarily national churches in the ethnic sense of the term, but the two concepts may overlap in the case of a nation state where the state...
es. Each (regional church) was the official church of one of the states of Germany
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
while the respective 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
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
.
This changed somewhat with growing religious freedom in the 19th century, especially in the three republican
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
states of Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Lübeck
Lübeck
The Hanseatic City of Lübeck is the second-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany, and one of the major ports of Germany. It was for several centuries the "capital" of the Hanseatic League and, because of its Brick Gothic architectural heritage, is listed by UNESCO as a World...
and Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. The greatest change came after the German Revolution
German Revolution
The German Revolution was the politically-driven civil conflict in Germany at the end of World War I, which resulted in the replacement of Germany's imperial government with a republic...
with the formation of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
and the abdication of the princes of the German states. 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 materialized due to strong regional self-confidence and traditions as well as the denominational fragmentation into Lutheran, Reformed and United churches. During the revolution when the old church governments lost power, the People's Church Union 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.
It was realized that one mainstream Protestant church for all of Germany was impossible and that any union would need a federal model. The churches met in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
in 1919 and created a plan for federation, and this plan was adopted in 1921 at Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
. Then in 1922 the 28 territorially defined Protestant churches founded the German Evangelical Church Union . At the time, the federation was the largest Protestant church union in Europe with around 40 million members. 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 Protestants in other countries.
In July 1933, the German Evangelical Church was created. Formed under the influence of the German Christians
German Christians
The Deutsche Christen were a pressure group and movement within German Protestantism aligned towards the antisemitic and Führerprinzip ideological principles of Nazism with the goal to align German Protestantism as a whole towards those principles...
, the National Socialists had much influence over the decisions of the first National Synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
, via their unambiguous partisanship in successfully backing Ludwig Müller for the office of Reich bishop. He did not manage, however, to prevail over the in the long term, and after the installation of Hanns Kerrl
Hanns Kerrl
Hanns Kerrl was a German Nazi politician. His most prominent position, from July 1935, was that of Reichsminister of Church Affairs...
as minister for church matters in a Führer-directive of 16 July 1935 and the foundation of the Protestant Reich Church
Protestant Reich Church
The Protestant Reich Church, officially German Evangelical Church and colloquially Reichskirche, was formed in 1936 to merge the 28 regional churches into a unified state church that espoused a single doctrine compatible with National Socialism...
, 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 . In June 1991, following German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
, the BEK merged with the EKD.
While the members are no longer established churches, they are still called , and some 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 between 1945 and 1948, the remaining six ecclesiastical provinces , each territorially comprising one of the Old Prussia
Provinces of Prussia
The Provinces of Prussia constituted the main administrative divisions of Prussia. Following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 and the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the various princely states in Germany gained their nominal sovereignty, but the reunification process that culminated in...
provinces, within the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union assumed independence as a consequence of the estrangement among them during the Nazi struggle of the churches
Kirchenkampf
Kirchenkampf is a German term that translates as "struggle of the churches" or "church struggle" in English. The term is sometimes used ambiguously, and may refer to one or more of the following different church struggles:...
. This turned the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union into a mere umbrella, being itself a member of EKD but covering some regional church bodies, which were again themselves members of EKD.
Membership
Protestantism is the major religion in NorthernNorthern Germany
- Geography :The key terrain features of North Germany are the marshes along the coastline of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, and the geest and heaths inland. Also prominent are the low hills of the Baltic Uplands, the ground moraines, end moraines, sandur, glacial valleys, bogs, and Luch...
, Eastern and Middle Germany
Middle Germany
Central Germany is an economic and cultural region in Germany. Its exact borders depend on context, but it is often defined as being a region within the federal states of Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, or a smaller part of this region .The name dates from the German Empire, when the region...
: the Reformed
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
branch in the extreme northwest and Lippe
Lippe
Lippe is a Kreis in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe....
, the Lutheran branch in the north and south, and the United
United and uniting churches
United and uniting churches are churches formed from the merger or other form of union of two or more different Protestant denominations.Perhaps the oldest example of a united church is found in Germany, where the Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of Lutheran, United and Reformed...
branch in Middle and Western Germany
Western Germany
The geographic term Western Germany is used to describe a region in the west of Germany. The exact area defined by the term is not constant, but it usually includes, but does not have the borders of, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse...
. While the majority of Christians in Southern Germany
Southern Germany
The term Southern Germany is used to describe a region in the south of Germany. There is no specific boundary to the region, but it usually includes all of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, and the southern part of Hesse...
are Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, some areas in Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
and Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
are predominantly Protestant, e.g. Middle Franconia
Middle Franconia
Middle Franconia is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is in the west of Bavaria and adjoins the state of Baden-Württemberg...
and the government region of Stuttgart
Stuttgart (region)
Stuttgart is one of the four administrative districts of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located in the north-east of the state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwestern part of Germany.It is sub-divided into the three regions Heilbronn-Franken, Ostwürttemberg, Stuttgart.- External links :*...
. The vast majority of German Protestants belong to a member church of the EKD. With 25,100,727 members in 2006, around 30 percent of all Germans belong to a member church of the EKD. Average church attendance is lower, however, with only around a million people attending a service on Sunday.
Important Protestant denominations that are not part of the Evangelical Church in Germany include the United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
, the Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church
The Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church is a confessional Lutheran church body of Germany. It is a member of the European Lutheran Conference and a member of the International Lutheran Council . The SELK synod has about 36,000 members in 200 congregations...
, Baptists organised in the Union of Evangelical Free Church Congregations in Germany
Union of Evangelical Free Church Congregations in Germany
The Union of Evangelical Free Church Congregations in Germany is a fellowship of congregations in Germany....
(Bund evangelisch-freikirchlicher Gemeinden), Pentecostals organised in the Union of Pentecostal Free-Churches (Bund Freier Pfingstgemeinden), the Union of the Free Evangelical Churches in Germany (Bund Freier evangelischer Gemeinden in Deutschland), Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
and the New Apostolic Church
New Apostolic Church
The New Apostolic Church is a chiliastic church, converted to Protestantism as a free church from the Catholic Apostolic Church. The church has existed since 1879 in Germany and since 1897 in the Netherlands...
.
Structure and practices
The structure of the EKD is based on federalFederation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...
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:
- SynodSynodA synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
- CouncilCommitteeA committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually intended to remain subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly—which when organized so that action on committee requires a vote by all its entitled members, is called the "Committee of the Whole"...
of the EKD - Church Conference (permanent body)
- Church office of the EKD (President: Hans Ulrich Anke)
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 EKD bodies.
Ordination of women
Ordination of women
Ordination in general religious usage is the process by which a person is consecrated . The ordination of women is a regular practice among some major religious groups, as it was of several religions of antiquity...
is practised in all 22 member churches with many women having been ordained in recent years. There are also several female bishops. Margot Käßmann
Margot Käßmann
Margot Käßmann is a Lutheran theologian and was Landesbischöfin of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover in Germany. On 28 October 2009, she was elected to lead the Evangelical Church in Germany, a federation of Protestant church bodies in Germany...
, former Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover and Chairperson of the Council of the EKD from 2009 until February 2010, was the first woman to head the EKD. Blessing of same-sex unions is practised in 10 member churches.
Member churches
The umbrella of the Evangelical Church in Germany comprises 22 regional churches, two Reformed (Calvinist), nine Lutheran and 11 unitedUnited and uniting churches
United and uniting churches are churches formed from the merger or other form of union of two or more different Protestant denominations.Perhaps the oldest example of a united church is found in Germany, where the Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of Lutheran, United and Reformed...
(Lutheran-Reformed) bodies. These bodies are termed Landeskirche
Landeskirche
In Germany and Switzerland, a Landeskirche is the church of a region. They originated as the national churches of the independent states, States of Germany or Cantons of Switzerland , that later unified to form modern Germany or modern Switzerland , respectively.-Origins in the Holy Roman...
n ("Regional Churches") though in most cases, their territories do not correspond to the current federal states
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
, but rather to former duchies, electorates and provinces or mergers thereof.
- Evangelical Church of AnhaltEvangelical Church of AnhaltThe Evangelical Church of Anhalt is one of the 22 member churches of the Evangelical Church in Germany....
(Evangelische Landeskirche Anhalts), a united church body in AnhaltAnhaltAnhalt was a sovereign county in Germany, located between the Harz Mountains and the river Elbe in Middle Germany. It now forms part of the state of Saxony-Anhalt.- Dukes of Anhalt :... - Evangelical Church in Baden (Evangelische Landeskirche in Baden), a united church body in BadenBadenBaden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in BavariaEvangelical Lutheran Church in BavariaThe Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria is a Protestant church in the German state of Bavaria. The seat of the church is in Munich....
(Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern), a Lutheran church body in BavariaBavariaBavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany... - 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:
- Evangelische Kirche in Berlin-Brandenburg
- Evangelische Kirche der schlesischen Oberlausitz
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick (Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche in Braunschweig), a Lutheran church body in BrunswickDuchy of BrunswickBrunswick was a historical state in Germany. Originally the territory of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in the Holy Roman Empire, it was established as an independent duchy by the Congress of Vienna in 1815...
- Evangelical Church of Bremen (Bremische Evangelische Kirche), a united church body in BremenBremenThe City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
- Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover (Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Hannovers), a Lutheran church body in HanoverHanoverHanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
- Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau (Evangelische Kirche in Hessen und Nassau), a united church body in Hesse and Nassau
- Evangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-WaldeckEvangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-WaldeckEvangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck is a united protestant church body in former Hesse-Cassel and Waldeck....
(Evangelische Kirche von Kurhessen-Waldeck), a united church body in former Hesse-Cassel and Waldeck - Church of Lippe (Lippische Landeskirche), a Reformed church body of Lippe
- Evangelical Lutheran Church of MecklenburgEvangelical Lutheran Church of MecklenburgThe Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg is a Lutheran church in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, serving the citizens living in Mecklenburg. The seat of the Landesbischof is the state capital Schwerin with Schwerin Cathedral as the principal church...
(Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Mecklenburgs), a Lutheran church body in MecklenburgMecklenburgMecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern... - Evangelical Church in Central GermanyEvangelical Church in Central GermanyThe Evangelical Church in Central Germany is a United church body covering most of the German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia and some adjacent areas in Brandenburg and Saxony .- History :...
(Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland), a united church body that was created in 2009 from the merger of:- Evangelical Church of the Church Province of SaxonyEvangelical Church of the Church Province of SaxonyThe Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony was the most important Protestant denomination in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. As a united Protestant church, it combined both Lutheran and Reformed traditions...
(Evangelische Kirche der Kirchenprovinz Sachsen) (Province of SaxonyProvince of SaxonyThe Province of Saxony was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1945. Its capital was Magdeburg.-History:The province was created in 1816 out of the following territories:...
) - Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Thuringia (Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Thüringen) (ThuringiaThuringiaThe Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
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- Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony
- North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church (Nordelbische Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche), a Lutheran church body in Northern GermanyNorthern Germany- Geography :The key terrain features of North Germany are the marshes along the coastline of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, and the geest and heaths inland. Also prominent are the low hills of the Baltic Uplands, the ground moraines, end moraines, sandur, glacial valleys, bogs, and Luch...
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg (Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Oldenburg), a Lutheran church body in OldenburgOldenburgOldenburg is an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 160,279 which makes it the fourth biggest city in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig...
- Evangelical Church of the Palatinate (Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz) or Protestantische Landeskirche, a united church body in Palatinate
- Pomeranian Evangelical ChurchPomeranian Evangelical ChurchThe Pomeranian Evangelical Church is a Protestant church body in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, serving the citizens living in Hither Pomerania. It combines Lutheran and Reformed traditions...
(Pommersche Evangelische Kirche), a united church body in PomeraniaPomeraniaPomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East... - Evangelical Church in the RhinelandEvangelical Church in the RhinelandEvangelical Church in the Rhineland is a united Protestant church body in parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Hesse . This is actually the area covered by the former Prussian Rhine Province until 1920. It is the most important Protestant...
(Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland), a united church body in the RhinelandRhinelandHistorically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe.... - Evangelical-Lutheran Church of SaxonyEvangelical-Lutheran Church of SaxonyThe Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony is one of 22 member Churches of the Evangelical Church in Germany , representing most of the state of Saxony. Its headquarters are in Dresden, and its bishop's residence is Meissen Cathedral.-External links:*...
(Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Sachsens), a Lutheran church body in SaxonySaxonyThe Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states.... - Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schaumburg-Lippe (Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Schaumburg-Lippe), a Lutheran church body in Schaumburg-LippeSchaumburg-LippeSchaumburg-Lippe was until 1946 a small state in Germany, located in the present day state of Lower Saxony, with its capital at Bückeburg.- History :...
- Evangelical Church of WestphaliaEvangelical Church of WestphaliaThe Evangelical Church of Westphalia is a Protestant church body in the German state of Northrhine-Westphalia. It's the most important Protestant denomination in Westphalia...
(Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen), a united church body in WestphaliaWestphaliaWestphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"... - Evangelical-Lutheran Church in WürttembergEvangelical-Lutheran Church in WürttembergThe Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg is a Protestant church in the German former state of Württemberg, now the part of the state Baden-Württemberg. The seat of the church is in Stuttgart.It is a full member of the Evangelical Church in Germany , and is a Lutheran Church...
(Evangelische Landeskirche in Württemberg), a Lutheran church body in WürttembergWürttembergWürttemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia.... - Evangelical Reformed Church 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, 18, and 19
The Moravian Church and the Federation of Evangelical Reformed Congregations are associate members.
See also
- Deutscher Evangelischer KirchentagDeutscher Evangelischer KirchentagThe Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag is a movement of lay members of the Evangelical Church in Germany...
- Religion in GermanyReligion in GermanyChristianity is the largest religion in Germany with 54,765,265 adherents as of the end of 2006, down to 51.5 million adherents as of 2008. The second largest religion is Islam with 3.3 million adherents followed by Buddhism and Judaism...
- Barmen DeclarationBarmen DeclarationThe Barmen Declaration or The Theological Declaration of Barmen 1934 is a statement of the Confessing Church opposing the Nazi-supported "German Christians" movement known for its anti-Semitism and extreme nationalism...
- Union Evangelischer Kirchen
- Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche DeutschlandsUnited Evangelical Lutheran Church of GermanyThe United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany was founded on July 8, 1948 in Eisenach, Germany. Its total membership is estimated at over 10.5 million people. The Member Churches of this organisation are in full fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America...