The Evangelical Church in Central Germany (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland''; ''EKM'') is a

United church A united church, also called a uniting church, is a denomination formed from the merger or other form of church union of two or more different Protestantism, Protestant Christian denominations, a number of which come from separate and distinc ...

body covering most of the German states of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

and

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

and some adjacent areas in

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

and

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

History

The Church was formed on 1 January 2009 when the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony merged with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia and became the Evangelical Church in Central Germany. The Church is the most important

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

in Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. The bishop's seat is

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt. The Church is a full member of the federation of Lutheran, Reformed and United Protestant churches in Germany called the Protestant Church in Germany. Its principal church is

Magdeburg Cathedral Magdeburg Cathedral (), officially called the Cathedral of Saints Maurice and Catherine (), is a Protestant Church in Germany, Lutheran cathedral in Germany and the oldest Gothic architecture, Gothic cathedral in the country. It is the proto-cat ...

. Ilse Junkermann was the '' Landesbischof'' (bishop) of the church from 2009 for 10 years. In September 2019, Friedrich Kramer (b. 1964) became her successor.

Practices

Ordination of women The ordination of women to Minister of religion, ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination ...

and blessing of same-sex marriages are allowed.Evangelisch.de: Mitteldeutsche Landeskirche regelet Trauung homosexueller Ehepaare neu, November 29, 2019
(German)

References

External links

* Member churches of the Protestant Church in Germany United and uniting churches Christianity in Thuringia Christianity in Saxony-Anhalt Lutheran World Federation members Christian organizations established in 2009 Protestant denominations established in the 21st century 2009 establishments in Germany {{Germany-stub