Protestant Church in the Rhineland (german: Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland; EKiR) is a

United Protestant A united church, also called a uniting church, is a church formed from the merger or other form of church union of two or more different Protestant Christian denominations. Historically, unions of Protestant churches were enforced by the state ...

church body A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, wors ...

in parts of the German states of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

and

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

(

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

). This is actually the area covered by the former Prussian Rhine Province until 1920. The seat of the church is in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

. The church leader is not called a "bishop", but a

praeses ''Praeses'' (Latin ''praesides'') is a Latin word meaning "placed before" or "at the head". In antiquity, notably under the Roman Dominate, it was used to refer to Roman governors; it continues to see some use for various modern positions. ...

(german: Präses), and there is no

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

. The Protestant Church in the Rhineland is a full member of the

Evangelical Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United (e.g. Prussian Union) Protestant regional churches and denominations in German ...

(EKD), and is a Prussian Union Church. The current

is Manfred Rekowski. The Evangelical Church in the Rhineland is one of 20

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

united United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

, and Reformed churches of the EKD. As of December 2020, the church has 2,398,996 members in 809 parishes. The Protestant Church in the Rhineland is a member of the UEK and the

Community of Protestant Churches in Europe The Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE, also GEKE for ''Gemeinschaft Evangelischer Kirchen in Europa'') is a fellowship of over 100 Protestant churches which have signed the Leuenberg Agreement. Together they strive for realizing c ...

and also the

Reformed Alliance The Reformed Alliance (german: link=no, Reformierter Bund) in Germany is a Calvinist federation, currently it has 430 congregations and 750 individual members. An estimated 2,000,000 Reformed Christians are in Germany. The moderator is D. Peter Buko ...

. In

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

the church runs a conference venue called Evangelische Akademie Bonn-

Bad Godesberg Bad Godesberg ( ksh, Bad Jodesbersch) is a borough ('' Stadtbezirk'') of Bonn, southern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. From 1949 to 1999, while Bonn was the capital of West Germany, most foreign embassies were in Bad Godesberg. Some buildings ar ...

. It is a member of the

Conference of Churches on the Rhine The Conference of Churches on the Rhine (German: Konferenz der Kirchen am Rhein (KKR); French: Conférence des églises riveraines du Rhin) is an ecumenical organization of European Christians founded in 1961. It is a member of the World Council of ...

Some theological statements

The theological teaching goes back on

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

. The ordination of women is allowed. The

blessing of same-sex unions The blessing or wedding of same-sex marriages and same-sex unions is an issue about which Christian churches are in ongoing disagreement. Traditionally, Christianity teaches that homosexual acts are sinful and that holy matrimony can only exi ...

has been allowed by the synod and depends on the local church administration (german: Presbyterium, en, presbytery).''Landessynode 2016 – Trauung auch für Eingetragene Lebenspartnerschaften''
Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, 15 January 2016.

History

The Protestant Church in the Rhineland emerged on 12 November 1948, when the ''Ecclesiastical Province of the Rhineland'' within the

Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union The Prussian Union of Churches (known under multiple other names) was a major Protestant church body which emerged in 1817 from a series of decrees by Frederick William III of Prussia that united both Lutheran and Reformed denominations in Pr ...

gained independence as its own church body. The Protestants in Hohenzollern emerged 1950 to Württemberg, keeping the Old Prussian mass.Antonia Lezerkoss
''Kirche: Liturgie nach alter Preußenweise''.
Südwest Presse Online, 3 February 2017, retrieved 18 February 2018.
Dagmar Stuhrmann
''Kirche: Ausstellung "Evanglisch in Hohenzollern" macht Halt in Ebingen''.
Südwest Presse Online, 26 January 2017, retrieved 18 February 2018.

Schwarzwälder Bote, 13 February 2013, retrieved 18 February 2018.

Legislative assembly and leaders

The legislative assembly of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland is the regional synod (''Landessynode''). The election of the synod is for four years. Since 1975 the synod meets annually in January in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler (before 1975 in Bad Godesberg). Its elected leader (praeses) is also leader of the church.

Praesides

The legislative body, then called the provincial synod (''Provinzialsynode''), was already established when the Rhenish church still formed an ecclesiastical province of the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union. The then praesides were only speakers of the synod but not the leaders of the ecclesiastical province. Instead this function was with the general superintendents. Since the ecclesiastical province assumed its independence each praeses is speaker of the synod and leader of the church. * 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, praeses of the provincial synod * 1948–1957: Heinrich Karl Ewald Held, praeses of the regional synod and leader of the church * 1958–1971: Joachim Wilhelm Beckmann * 1971–1981: Karl Immer * 1981–1989: Gerhard Brandt * 1989–1996: Peter Beier * 1996–1997: vacancy ** Hans Ulrich Stephan, superior church counsellor and praeses per pro * 1997–2003: Manfred Kock * 2003–2013: Nikolaus Schneider * 2013–present: Manfred Rekowski

Books

* ''Evangelisches Gesang-Buch'' * ''Evangelisches Gesangbuch für Rheinland und Westfalen'', Dortmund, 1883 * ''Evangelisches Gesangbuch für Rheinland und Westfalen'', Dortmund, 1929 * ''Evangelisches Kirchengesangbuch, Edition for Churches in Rhineland, Westphalia and Lippe'', Bielefeld, 1969

References

External links

Evangelical Church in the Rhineland

Evangelical Church in Germany
{{Authority control

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

1948 establishments in Germany