Hochkirchliche St. Johannes-Bruderschaft (SJB) (''High Church Brotherhood of St John'') is a German High Church Lutheran religious society for men and women under the patronate of

John the Apostle John the Apostle ( grc, Ἰωάννης; la, Ioannes ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ;) or Saint John the Beloved was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he was the son of Zebede ...

within the

Hochkirchliche Vereinigung The Hochkirchliche Vereinigung Augsburgischen Bekenntnisses (''High Church Union of the Augsburg Confession'') is a Lutheran High Church organisation in Germany. It was founded in Berlin in October 1918, inspired by the High Church theses ''Stimuli ...

. It has about 100 members in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It is headed by ''Apostolischer Vorsteher'' +Innocenz Konrad Schrieder.

The Rule

The aim of the confraternity is "the sacramental renewal of the Church, restorement of the apostolic succession in the Church and recovery of the unity of the christendom". The Brotherhood is headed by ''Apostolischer Vorsteher'', who is a bishop in apostolic succession. He is assisted by

vicar apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

, likewise bishop in apostolic succession. Brotherhood elects the

vicar capitular :''See: Catholic Church hierarchy#Equivalents of diocesan bishops in law'' A diocesan administrator is a provisional ordinary of a Roman Catholic particular church. Diocesan administrators in canon law The college of consultors elects an admi ...

and ''Apostolischer Vorsteher'' with more than 66,6% majority. The Rule contains for example following: * Members have regular prayer life and preferably say

daily office In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of Fixed prayer times#Christianity, fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or sel ...

using a breviary ''Chorgebet'' (2009) and whenever possible, in common with others. * Priest members are committed to celebrate Eucharist every Sunday if possible and to take care that the

eucharistic prayer The Anaphora is the most solemn part of the Divine Liturgy, or the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, a thanksgiving prayer by virtue of which the offerings of bread and wine are believed to be consecrated as the body and blood of Christ. This is the us ...

contains also anamnesis and

epiclesis The epiclesis (also spelled epiklesis; from grc, ἐπίκλησις "surname" or "invocation") refers to the invocation of one or several gods. In ancient Greek religion, the epiclesis was the epithet used as the surname given to a deity in reli ...

after the rite ''Deutsche Messe'' (1926 renewed 2013). * Members go regularly to private

confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...

and priest members work for reanimation of the practice of the private

in their parishes. * Members of the Brotherhood follow

fasting Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...

and abstinence rules of the western Church. * They work by prayer, words, and deeds for peace, justice, and probation of the creation, collaboration of peoples and races. Members take part in the work of

ecumenical movement Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

History

St. Johannes-Bruderschaft's predecessor "Evangelisch-Katholische Eucharistische Gemeinschaft" (Evangelical Catholic Eucharistic Society) was founded 1929 in Germany. It was forbidden 1937 in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

because of its resistance to

Aryan paragraph An Aryan paragraph (german: Arierparagraph) was a clause in the statutes of an organization, corporation, or real estate deed that reserved membership and/or right of residence solely for members of the "Aryan race" and excluded from such rights a ...

s and Internationalism, but was founded again in 1947 as "Evangelische-Ökumenische St.-Johannes-Bruderschaft". The first ''Apostolischer Vorsteher'' of the confraternity was Friedrich Heiler (1929-1967). He arranged to receive the episcopal consecration from a bishop of the independent Gallican Church (Petite L'Eglise) in Syrian-orthodox tradition. On August 25, 1930, Heiler received from the hands of the Gallican Bishop Petrus Gaston Vigué, using the

Roman Ritual The ''Roman Ritual'' ( la, Rituale Romanum) is one of the official liturgical books of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. It contains all of the services which may be performed by a priest or deacon which are not contained within either the '' ...

, all the Holy Orders including the

episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Apostolic succession in St. Johannes-Bruderschaft

* 129. Antonius ( Franz X. Alvarez) - 1889 * 130. Timotheus ( René J. Vilatte) - 1892 * 131. Paulus ( Miraglia) - 1900 * 132. Julius ( Houssaye) - 1904 * 133. Ludwig (Francois Giraud) - 1911 * 134. Petrus (Gaston Vigué) - 1928 * 135. IRENÄUS ( FRIEDRICH HEILER) - 1930 * 136. Cyrillus (Martin Giebner) - 1941 * 137. Ambrosius (Konrad Minkner) - 1952 * 138. Werner (Ernst Linz) - 1963 * 139. Johannes (Klaus Ewert) - 1964 * 140. Donatus (Albrecht Volkmann) - 1971 * 141. Simeon (Dietrich Schulze) - 1979 * 142. Herman (Herman Miskotte) - 1980 * 143. Joachim (Joachim Nerger) - 1988 * 144. Paulus (Klaus Jacoby) - 1992 * 145. Augustinus (Wolfgang Tischendorf) - 2006 * 146. Innocenz (Konrad Schrieder) - 2012 * 147. Thomas (Bernd Feise) - 2013 * 148. Martin (Friedhelm Bürgener) - 2013

External links

Hochkirchliche Vereinigung Augsburgischen Bekenntnisses e.V.
*

by

Leonard Swidler Leonard J. Swidler (born January 6, 1929) is Professor of Catholic Thought and Interreligious Dialogue at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he has taught since 1966. He is the co-founder (in 1964, with Arlene Swidler) and editor ...

''Die St. Johannes-Bruderschaft''
by Albrecht Volkmann, Quatember 1954 (p. 172-175) {{Lutheran orders Lutheran orders and societies Lutheranism in Germany Christian organizations established in 1947 1947 establishments in Germany

The Rule

History

Apostolic succession in St. Johannes-Bruderschaft

See also

External links