The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a

federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...

of twenty

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 ...

Reformed Reform is beneficial change Reform may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine *''Reforme'' ("Reforms"), initial name of the ...

(

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

) and United (e.g. Prussian Union)

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

churches and denominations in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, which collectively encompasses the vast majority of Protestants in that country. In 2020, the EKD had a membership of 20,236,000 members, or 24.3% of the German population. It constitutes one of the largest national Protestant bodies in the world. Church offices managing the federation are located in Hannover-Herrenhausen,

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. Many of its members consider themselves Lutherans. Historically, the first formal attempt to unify German Protestantism occurred during the

Weimar Republic The German Reich, commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic,, was a historical period of Germany from 9 November 1918 to 23 March 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is also r ...

era in the form of the German Evangelical Church Confederation, which existed from 1922 until 1933. Earlier, there had been successful royal efforts at unity in various German states, beginning with

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

and several minor German states (e.g.

Duchy of Nassau The Duchy of Nassau (German: ''Herzogtum Nassau'') was an independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what is now the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It was a member of the Confederation of the Rhine and later of the ...

) in 1817. These unions resulted in the first united and uniting churches, a new development within Protestantism which later spread to other parts of the world. When

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

came to power in 1933, his administration tried to reorganize the old confederation into a unified

German Evangelical Church The German Evangelical Church (german: Deutsche Evangelische Kirche) was a successor to the German Evangelical Church Confederation from 1933 until 1945. The German Christians, an antisemitic and racist pressure group and ''Kirchenpartei'', ...

as Hitler wanted to use a single Protestant church to further his own ambitions. However, a division emerged between the

Reichskirche The German Evangelical Church (german: Deutsche Evangelische Kirche) was a successor to the German Evangelical Church Confederation from 1933 until 1945. The German Christians, an antisemitic and racist pressure group and ''Kirchenpartei'', gai ...

, led by the pro-government

German Christians Christianity is the largest religion in Germany. It was introduced to the area of modern Germany by 300 AD, while parts of that area belonged to the Roman Empire, and later, when Franks and other Germanic tribes converted to Christianity from t ...

, and the

Confessing Church The Confessing Church (german: link=no, Bekennende Kirche, ) was a movement within German Protestantism during Nazi Germany that arose in opposition to government-sponsored efforts to unify all Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi Germ ...

, which opposed state control of the church. Other Protestant churches aligned themselves with one of these groups, or stayed neutral in this church strife. The postwar church council issued the

Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt The Stuttgart Declaration of Guilt (german: Stuttgarter Schuldbekenntnis) was a declaration issued on October 19, 1945, by the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (', EKD), in which it confessed guilt for its inadequacies in opposition to ...

on 19 October 1945, confessing guilt and declaring remorse for indifference and inaction of German Protestants in the face of atrocities committed by Hitler's regime. In 1948, the Evangelical Church in Germany was organized in the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

to function as a new umbrella organization for German Protestant churches. As a result of tensions between

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

and

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, the regional churches in East Germany broke away from the EKD in 1969. In 1991, following

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

, the East German churches rejoined the EKD. The member churches (''Gliedkirchen''), while being independent and having their own theological and formal organisation, share full pulpit and altar fellowship, and are united in the EKD

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word mea ...

, but they act as individual members of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

(WCC) 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 ...

(CPCE). Boundaries of EKD churches within Germany partially resemble those of the states of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

and successor forms of German statehood (to the most part 1815 borders), due to the historically close relationship between individual German states and churches. As for church governance, the Lutheran churches typically practise an

episcopal polity An episcopal polity is a hierarchical form of church governance ("ecclesiastical polity") in which the chief local authorities are called bishops. (The word "bishop" derives, via the British Latin and Vulgar Latin term ''*ebiscopus''/''*bisc ...

, while the Reformed and the United ones a mixture of

presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their na ...

and congregationalist polities. Most member churches are led by a (state)

bishop 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 ...

. Only one member church, the

Evangelical Reformed Church in Germany The Evangelical Reformed Church (german: Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche), until 2009 Evangelical Reformed Church – Synod of Reformed Churches in Bavaria and Northwestern Germany (german: Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche – Synode evangelisch-reform ...

, is not restricted to a certain territory. In some ways, the other member churches resemble

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

s of the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and Anglican churches, from an organisational point of view.

Name

The German term here more accurately corresponds to the broad English term ''Protestant'' rather than to the narrower ''

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exp ...

'' (in German called ), although the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant Lutheran church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. , it has approxi ...

, the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC; french: Église évangélique luthérienne au Canada) is Canada's largest Lutheran denomination, with 95,000 baptized members in 519 congregations, with the second largest, the Lutheran Church– ...

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 The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

emphasis on , "by scripture alone".

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 Luther ...

encouraged the use of this term alongside ''Christian''.

History

From the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 to the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

and the collapse of the German Empire, some Protestant churches were

state church A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular, is not necessarily a ...

es. Each (state or 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 The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

headed the Evangelical Church of Prussia's older Provinces as supreme governor), similar to the

British monarch The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional monarchy, constitutional form of government by which a hereditary monarchy, hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United ...

's role as the

Supreme Governor of the Church of England The supreme governor of the Church of England is the titular head of the Church of England, a position which is vested in the British monarch. Queen and Church > Queen and Church of England">The Monarchy Today > Queen and State > Queen and Chu ...

. This changed somewhat with growing religious freedom in the 19th century, especially in the republican states of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie H ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

(1857),

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

, and

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

(1860). The greatest change came after the

German Revolution German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, with the formation of the

and the abdication of the

princes A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

of the German states. The system of state churches disappeared with the

Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (german: Die Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (''Weimarer Verfassung''), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era (1919–1933). The c ...

(1919), which brought about disestablishment by the

separation of church and state The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...

, and there was a desire for the Protestant churches to merge. In fact, a merger was permanently under discussion but never materialised due to strong regional self-confidence and traditions as well as the denominational fragmentation into

, and

United and uniting churches 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 sta ...

. During the Revolution, when the old church governments lost power, the People's Church Union () was formed and advocated unification without respect to theological tradition and also increasing input from

laymen In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...

. However, the People's Church Union quickly split along territorial lines after the churches' relationship with the new governments improved.D. Karl Bornhausen, "The Present Status of the Protestant Churches in Germany," ''The Journal of Religion'', Vol. 3, No. 5 (Sep. 1923), 501-524. It was realised 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 (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

in 1919 and created a plan for federation, and this plan was adopted in 1921 at Stuttgart. Then in 1922 the then 28 territorially defined Protestant churches founded the German Evangelical Church Confederation (, DEK). At the time, the federation was the largest Protestant church federation in Europe with around 40 million members. Because it was a federation 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 (, DEK) was formed under the influence of the

, a pro-

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

religious movement. They had much influence over the decisions of the first National

Synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word mea ...

, 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. The

arose in resistance to the Nazi regime's ideology. After the installation of Hanns Kerrl as minister for church matters in a Führer-directive of 16 July 1935 and the foundation of the – in the end not materialising –

Protestant Reich Church The German Evangelical Church (german: Deutsche Evangelische Kirche) was a successor to the German Evangelical Church Confederation from 1933 until 1945. The German Christians, an antisemitic and racist pressure group and ''Kirchenpartei'', g ...

, the DEK played more or less no further role. Deutsche Christen Bekennende Kirche

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 regional Protestant churches in

and

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

broke away from the EKD and formed the League of Evangelical Churches in the German Democratic Republic (german: link=no, Bund der Evangelischen Kirchen in der DDR, BEK), in 1970 also joined by the Moravian Herrnhut District. In June 1991, following

, the BEK merged with the EKD. While the members are no longer state churches, they enjoy constitutional protection as statutory corporations, and 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 regional churches for states or provinces that often no longer exist or whose borders changed since. 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 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 Prus ...

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 (and the BEK, 1969–1991) but covering some regional church bodies, which were again themselves members of EKD (and the BEK, 1969–1991). Since 1973, when many Protestant churches in Europe, including the EKD members, concluded the

Leuenberg Agreement 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 ...

, also the then 21 EKD members introduced full communion for their parishioners and ministry among each other. Since also the regional Protestant churches in East Germany had signed the Leuenberg Agreement, thus the then ten members of the Federation of Protestant Churches in the German Democratic Republic practised full communion with the EKD members too.

Ordination of women The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordin ...

is practised in all 20 member churches with many women having been ordained in recent years. There are also several women serving as bishops.

Margot Käßmann Margot Käßmann (; born 3 June 1958) is a Lutheran theologian, who was '' Landesbischöfin'' (bishop) of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover in Germany. On 28 October 2009, she was elected to lead the ''Evangelical Church in Germany'', a ...

, former bishop of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover (german: Evangelisch-lutherische Landeskirche Hannovers) is a Lutheran church body ''(Landeskirche)'' in the northern German state of Lower Saxony and the city of Bremerhaven covering the territory of th ...

and Chairperson of the Council of the EKD from 2009 until February 2010, was the first woman to head the EKD. Blessings of same-sex marriages is practised and allowed in 14 of 20 and

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 exis ...

are allowed in all other member churches. The EKD opposes abortion in most situations but believes it should remain legal. The EKD has undergone a split in the 20th century and lost a bulk of its adherents in

due to state atheist policies of the former East German government. After 1990, membership was counted and amounted to around the same number as the Roman Catholic Church. In the 21st century, membership in both the Evangelical Church and the Roman Catholic Church stagnates as more people are becoming religious nones.

Membership

Evangelical Church in Germany - member churches by confession

Protestantism is the major religion in Northern, Eastern and Middle Germany, with the

branch predominating in the extreme northwest and

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' ( district) 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

branch in the north and south, and the United branch in Middle and

Western Germany The old states of Germany (german: die alten Länder) is a jargon referring to the ten of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) that were part of West Germany and that unified with the eastern German Democratic Republic' ...

. While the majority of Christians in

Southern Germany Southern Germany () is a region of Germany which has no exact boundary, but is generally taken to include the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, historically the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia or, in a modern context, Bavaria ...

are

, some areas in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

and

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

are predominantly Protestant, e.g.

Middle Franconia Middle Franconia (german: Mittelfranken, ) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the west of Bavaria and borders the state of Baden-Württemberg. The administrative seat is Ansbach; however, ...

and the government region of Stuttgart. The vast majority of German Protestants belong to a member church of the EKD. With 20,236,000 members in 2020, around 24.3 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.EKD: Services of Worship and Holy Communion 2006
. Accessed 16 March 2010. The regional Protestant church bodies accept each other as equals, despite denominational differences. No member church runs congregations or churches in the area of another member church, thus preventing competing with each other for parishioners. The only exception is the Evangelical Reformed Church, which combines Reformed congregations within the ambits of usually Lutheran member churches, which themselves do not include the eventual local Reformed congregations. Thus, for example, a Lutheran moving from a place where their parish belongs to a Lutheran member church, would be accepted in their new place of domicile by the locally competent congregation within another member church, even if this church and its local parish are Reformed or of united Protestant confession, with Lutheran being exchangeable with the two other respective Protestant confessions within the EKD. This is due to full pulpit and altar fellowship between all EKD member churches. In this the ambits of the member churches resemble

s of the Anglican or

churches, however, else there is no common hierarchy supervising the member churches, who are legally independent equals with the EKD being their umbrella. Members of congregations within the member churches – like those of parishes within Catholic dioceses and those enrolled in Jewish congregations also enjoying statutory corporation status – are required to pay a

church tax A church tax is a tax collected by the state from members of some religious denominations to provide financial support of churches, such as the salaries of its clergy and to pay the operating cost of the church. The constitution of a number o ...

, a surcharge on their normal income tax collected by the states of Germany and passed on to the respective religious body.

2011 census results by state

Gallery

File:Evangelisch Zensus 2011.png, EKD Protestants according to the 2011 census. File:Konfessionen-in-Deutschland-2020.svg, Red denotes states in which EKD Protestants outnumber Catholics. Evang.svg, Flag of the Evangelical Church in Germany. File:Kreuz prot.svg, Another version, as used by German Protestants. EKD Sitz Hannover.jpg, EKD church office in

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, Germany. Ekd organigramm.JPG, EKD's internal organization.

Structure

The structure of the EKD is based on federal principles. Each regional church is responsible for Christian life in its own area while each regional church has its own special characteristics and retains its independence. The EKD 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:

Synod

The

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.

Praesides of the Synod

Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F086798-0026, Bonn, Tagung FDP-Bundestagsfraktion

: 1949–1955:

Gustav Heinemann Gustav Walter Heinemann (; 23 July 1899 – 7 July 1976) was a German politician who was President of West Germany from 1969 to 1974. He served as mayor of Essen from 1946 to 1949, West German Minister of the Interior from 1949 to 1950, and Mini ...

: 1955–1961: Constantin von Dietze : 1961–1970: : 1970–1973: Ludwig Raiser : 1973–1985: Cornelius von Heyl : 1985–2003: Jürgen Schmude : 2003–2009:

Barbara Rinke Barbara Rinke (born 8 January 1947) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party. She was born in Nordhausen, Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, ...

: 2009–2013:

Katrin Göring-Eckardt Katrin Dagmar Göring-Eckardt (born Katrin Dagmar Eckardt; 3 May 1966) is a German politician of the German Green Party (officially known as Alliance 90/The Greens). Starting her political activity in the now-former German Democratic Republic (E ...

: 2013–2021:

Irmgard Schwaetzer Irmgard Schwaetzer (born 5 April 1942) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and a Protestant church official. Since 2013, she has been chairing the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). She is the central foundi ...

: since 2021: Anna-Nicole Heinrich

Council of the EKD

The EKD Council is the representative and governing body of the Evangelical Church in Germany. The Council of the EKD has 15 members jointly elected by the Synod and Church Conference who serve terms of six years. 2011-11 HeinrichBedford-Strohm6809

Chairman of the Council of the EKD

The representative of the EKD is the Chairman of the Council of the EKD. : 1945-1949: Theophil Wurm, Bishop, Württemberg : 1949-1961: Otto Dibelius, bishop of Berlin-Brandenburg : 1961-1967: Kurt Scharf, president, bishop from 1966, Berlin-Brandenburg : 1967-1973: , Bishop, Bavaria : 1973-1979: , Bishop, Württemberg : 1979-1985: , Bishop, Hanover : 1985-1991: , bishop of Berlin-Brandenburg : 1991-1997: , Bishop, Baden : 1997-2003: Manfred Kock, president, Rhineland : 2003-2009:

Wolfgang Huber Wolfgang Huber (born 12 August 1942 in Strasbourg, Germany) is a prominent German theologian and ethicist. Huber served as bishop of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia until November 2009. Huber succeeded Ma ...

, bishop of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia : 2009-2010:

, bishop of Hanover : 2010-2014: Nikolaus Schneider, president, Rhineland : 2014-2021: Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, Bishop, Bavaria : 2021-: Annette Kurschus, Bishop of Westphalia

Church Conference (permanent body)

The Church Conference is where member churches, through the representatives of their governing boards, can directly participate in the work of the EKD.

Church Office of the EKD

The Church Office is the administration of the EKD and shall the business of the Synod, Council and Conference of the EKD. Main divisions: * I = ''line, law and finance'': President * II = ''Religious Activities and Education'': Vice President (since 2010) * III = ''Public Responsibility'': Vice President Horst Gorski (also head of the Office of the

United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany The United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (German: Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands, VELKD) was founded on July 8, 1948, in Eisenach, Germany. Its total membership is 8.6 million people. The Member Churches of this org ...

) (since 2007) * IV = ''ecumenism and working abroad'': Vice President Bishop , foreign bishop and head of the Office of the Union of Evangelical Churches) (since 2014)

President

* 1945-1948:

Hans Asmussen Hans Christian Asmussen (born 21 August 1898 in Flensburg — died 30 December 1968 in Speyer) was a German Evangelical and Lutheran theologian. Asmussen was a pastor in Altona, Hamburg. He was removed from office by the Nazis because of his ...

* 1949-1965: Heinz Brunotte * 1966-1989: * 1989-1997: Otto von Camphausen * 1997-2006: * 2006-2010: * since 2010: The EKD Church Office has approximately 200 employees.

International activities

The EKD holds various charities ("Hilfswerke") under its auspices. The Gustav-Adolf-Werk (GAW) (Gustaphus Adolphus Union formerly) was founded 1832 in Leipzig as the first and eldest such organization and is responsible to aid feeble sister churches, especially in Roman Catholic countries and the Protestant

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews afte ...

. It has separate branches internationally, the organization in Austria is still called the Gustav-Adolf-Verein. Brot für die Welt is responsible for international development aid.

Member churches (since 2012)

The umbrella of the Evangelical Church in Germany comprises 20 regional churches: *11

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 ...

(Lutheran and Reformed) *7

These bodies are termed ''

Landeskirche In Germany and Switzerland, a Landeskirche (plural: Landeskirchen) is the church of a region. The term usually refers to Protestant churches, but—in case of Switzerland—also Roman Catholic dioceses. They originated as the national churches of ...

n'' ("Regional Churches") though in most cases, their territories do not correspond to the current

federal states A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...

, but rather to former duchies, electorates and provinces or mergers thereof. # Evangelical Church of Anhalt ''(Evangelische Landeskirche Anhalts)'', a united church body in

Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

Evangelical Church in Baden The Protestant Church in Baden (german: link=no, Evangelische Landeskirche in Baden; i.e. Evangelical Regional Church in Baden) is a United Protestant member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), and member of the Conference of Ch ...

''(Evangelische Landeskirche in Baden)'', a united church body in

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden ...

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria (german: Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern) is a Lutheran member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany in the German state of Bavaria. The seat of the church is in Munich. The '' Landesbischof ...

''(Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern)'', a Lutheran church body in

# 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 The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick (german: Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche in Braunschweig) is a Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 1 ...

''(Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche in Braunschweig)'', a Lutheran church body in Brunswick # Evangelical Church of Bremen ''(Bremische Evangelische Kirche)'', a united church body in

Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover (german: Evangelisch-lutherische Landeskirche Hannovers) is a Lutheran church body ''( Landeskirche)'' in the northern German state of Lower Saxony and the city of Bremerhaven covering the territory of t ...

''(Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Hannovers)'', a Lutheran church body in the former

Province of Hanover The Province of Hanover (german: Provinz Hannover) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1868 to 1946. During the Austro-Prussian War, the Kingdom of Hanover had attempted to maintain a neutral position, a ...

Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau The Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau (german: Evangelische Kirche in Hessen und Nassau, EKHN) is a United Protestant church body in the German states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. There is no bishop and therefore no cathedral. One of it ...

''(Evangelische Kirche in Hessen und Nassau)'', a united church body in the former

People's State of Hesse The People's State of Hesse (german: Volksstaat Hessen) was one of the constituent states of Germany from 1918 to 1945, as the successor to the Grand Duchy of Hesse (german: Großherzogtum Hessen) after the defeat of the German Empire in World ...

and Nassau #

Evangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck The Evangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck (german: Evangelische Kirche von Kurhessen-Waldeck; EKKW) is a United Protestant church body in former Hesse-Cassel and the Waldeck part of the former Free State of Waldeck-Pyrmont. Constitut ...

''(Evangelische Kirche von Kurhessen-Waldeck)'', a united church body in former Hesse-Cassel and Waldeck #

Church of Lippe The Church of Lippe (german: link=no, Lippische Landeskirche) is a Reformed (Calvinist) member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany that covers what used to be the Principality of Lippe. Seat of the church administration is Detmold. The p ...

''(Lippische Landeskirche)'', a Reformed church body of

Evangelical Church in Central Germany The Evangelical Church in Central Germany (German: ''Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland''; ''EKM'') is a United church body covering most of the German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia and some adjacent areas in Brandenburg and Saxony. ...

''(Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland)'', a united church body that was created in 2009 from the merger of: #* Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony ''(Evangelische Kirche der Kirchenprovinz Sachsen)'' (

Province of Saxony The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merge ...

) #*

Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Thuringia The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia (''Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Thüringen'') was a Lutheran member church of the umbrella Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). The seat of the church was in Eisenach. The church covered those part ...

''(Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Thüringen)'' (

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

) #

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany (Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Norddeutschland) is a Lutheran member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, EKD). It was established on 27 May 201 ...

''Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Norddeutschland''), a Lutheran church body that was created in 2012 from the merger of: #* North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church ''(Nordelbische Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche)'', a Lutheran church body in

Northern Germany Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg (german: Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Mecklenburgs; abbreviated ELLM) was a Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Ma ...

''(Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Mecklenburgs)'', a Lutheran church body in

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwer ...

#* Pomeranian Evangelical Church ''(Pommersche Evangelische Kirche)'', a united church body in

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to t ...

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg (german: Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Oldenburg) is a Lutheran church in the German state of Lower Saxony. The seat of the church leaders is in Oldenburg, as is the preaching venue of its bishop at St ...

''(Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Oldenburg)'', a Lutheran church body in Oldenburg # Evangelical Church of the Palatinate ''(Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz)'' or ''Protestantische Landeskirche'', a united church body in

Palatinate Palatinate or county palatine may refer to: *the territory or jurisdiction of a count palatine United Kingdom and Ireland *County palatine in England and Ireland * Palatinate (award), student sporting award of Durham University *Palatinate (col ...

# Evangelical Church in the Rhineland ''(Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland)'', a united church body in the

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 Rhineland ...

Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony (''Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Sachsens'') is one of 20 member Churches of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), covering most of the state of Saxony. Its headquarters are in Dresden, and its b ...

''(Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Sachsens)'', a Lutheran church body in

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

# Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schaumburg-Lippe ''(Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Schaumburg-Lippe)'', a Lutheran church body in

Schaumburg-Lippe Schaumburg-Lippe, also Lippe-Schaumburg, was created as a county in 1647, became a principality in 1807, a free state in 1918, and was until 1946 a small state in Germany, located in the present day state of Lower Saxony, with its capital at Bück ...

Evangelical Church of Westphalia The Protestant Church of Westphalia (german: Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen, EKvW) is a United Protestant church body in North Rhine-Westphalia. The seat of the praeses (german: Präses, the head of the church) is Bielefeld. The EKvW emerged o ...

''(Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen)'', a united church body in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regi ...

# Evangelical Church in Württemberg ''(Evangelische Landeskirche in Württemberg)'', a Lutheran church body in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Wür ...

# Evangelical Reformed Church (Regional Church) ''Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche (Landeskirche)'', a Reformed church body, covering the territories of No. 3, 5, 7, 12, 16, 17, and 19 The

Moravian Church , image = AgnusDeiWindow.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , caption = Church emblem featuring the Agnus Dei.Stained glass at the Rights Chapel of Trinity Moravian Church, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States , main_classification = Proto-Pr ...

("Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine") and the Federation of Evangelical Reformed Congregations are associate members.

References

External links

*
Overview of World Religions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evangelical Church In Germany United and uniting churches

Members of the World Council of Churches Christian organizations established in 1948 1948 establishments in Germany