Hohenzollernbruecke Koeln Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag 2007

The German Protestant Church Assembly (

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 ...

''Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag'', DEKT) is an assembly of lay members of the

Protestant Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (, EKD), also known as the Protestant Church in Germany, is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed, and United Protestant regional Churches in Germany, collectively encompassing the vast majority of the count ...

, that organises biennial events of faith, culture and political discussion.

History

The biennial five-day convention, the main mission of the organisation, was founded in 1949 by laypeople, with the intention of strengthening the democratic culture, following

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

rule and the Second World War. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Church Assembly was strongly affected by the

peace movement A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world pe ...

and became a key platform for

Christian pacifism Christian pacifism is the Christian theology, theological and Christian ethics, ethical position according to which pacifism and non-violence have both a scriptural and rational basis for Christians, and affirms that any form of violence is inco ...

Description

The German Protestant Church Assembly sees itself as a free movement of people brought together by their

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

faith and engagement in the future of the Protestant Church and wider society. The assembly partakes in bible study, lectures, and discussions, and also hosts concerts. The five-day Church Assembly festival, or convention, takes place in a different German city every two years. This is the assembly's main mission. These events bring together around 100,000 visitors, who participate for the whole period. It has achieved a high importance, as can be seen by many attending politicians, including the chancellor and federal president;

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German retired politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. She is the only woman to have held the office. She was Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2005 and Leade ...

has been a frequent guest to the assembly. The media impact, while the Church Assembly is held, is also considerable. In 2015, the convention was held in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

Namesake

Between 1848 and 1872 conventions of Protestant clergy were held under the same German name as they are nowadays: ''Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag''. For a description, see the

Evangelical Church Conference The Evangelical Church Conference () was a convention of delegates from the different Protestant denominations in Germany and Austria. The conference originated in 1848, when the general desire for political unity made itself felt in the ecclesia ...

References

External links

Official Websitewww.kirchentag.org.uk
British Committee of the ''Kirchentag'' Protestant organizations Protestantism in Germany Lutheran pacifists Recurring events established in 1949 1949 establishments in Germany {{Lutheran-stub