Working group of Christian churches in Germany

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Working Group of Christian Churches in Germany
(ACK)
legal form registered association
founding 1948
Seat Frankfurt am Main
main emphasis Promote ecumenical cooperation and the unity of the churches
Chair Radu Constantin Miron
Managing directors Verena Hammes
Members 17 member
churches , 8 guest members
Website www.oekumene-ack.de

The Working Group of Christian Churches in Germany e. V. ( ACK ) is an association of Christian churches in Germany formed in 1948 in connection with the founding and first full assembly of the World Council of Churches and initially from the churches belonging to it, for the purpose of promoting ecumenical cooperation and the unity of the churches. It forms the National Council of Churches for Germany and as such is an associated organization with the World Council of Churches .

Individual churches can have membership, guest or observer status. In addition to membership at the federal level, there are also regional, mostly state-oriented, and local ACK, where membership can differ from that at the federal level. For example, a local congregation of a particular church in the local ACK can be a member without the church itself being a member of the ACK at the state or federal level. The reverse is also possible.

The churches united in the ACK “confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior according to the Holy Scriptures and strive to do together what they are called to do, for the glory of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” (§ 1 of the statutes). This formulation corresponds to the basic formula of the World Council of Churches .

Members, visiting members and observers

Members

The members, guest members and permanent observers in Germany were composed of a large number of church groups.

First, there is the Orthodox tradition (ancient Near Eastern and Orthodox churches):

Second, churches from the Protestant tradition should be mentioned:

Third, churches from the Catholic tradition are listed:

Guest Members and Permanent Observers

Are guest members

Permanent observers are the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) , Bad Pyrmont, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ökumenischer Kreise e. V. (AÖK), Hofheim / Murnau, the Evangelische Missionswerk , Hamburg, and the Christian Council (Ecumenical Working Group in Germany), Düsseldorf.

organization structure

General meeting and board

The management body of the ACK is the general assembly, which meets twice a year and consists of delegates from the members, guest members and permanent observers. The legislative period is five years.

The executive committee is elected by the delegates of the members of the ACK and consists of members of the different denominations. The board currently includes: The chairman is the ( Greek Orthodox ) archpriest Radu Constantin Miron, his deputies are the ( Anglican ) Reverend Christoph Easthill and the ( Methodist ) Bishop Harald Rückert . Other board members are the ( Roman Catholic ) auxiliary bishop Nikolaus Schwerdtfeger and the ( Protestant ) regional bishop Martin Hein .

Ecumenical Central (ÖC)

The Ecumenical Central (ÖC) in Frankfurt am Main is the office of ACK Germany. In principle, it is made up of parity denominational members, although recently only half positions have been allocated to the individual church families.

Verena Hammes has been the managing director of ACK since April 1, 2019.

The presentations are structured according to denominational families, to which work focuses are also assigned:

  • EKD department: "Migration, Dialogue, Culture", simultaneously press and public relations work (since September 1, 2013 Pastor Marc Witzenbacher)
  • Catholic presentation: "Faith and Theology" (since April 1, 2019 Verena Hammes, also managing director of the ACK)
  • Free church lecture: "Mission, testimony, worship" (since July 1, 2013 Pastor Bernd Densky, BEFG)
  • Orthodox presentation: “Church and Society” (Marina Kiroudi).

German Ecumenical Study Committee

In 1950 the ACK set up the German Ecumenical Study Committee (DÖSTA) as its theological commission. The task of the committee is to advise the ACK on ecumenical and theological questions. Numerous studies, reports and statements on questions of ecumenism and ecumenical relations have emerged from the DÖSTA.

Regional ACKs

In Germany there are 14 regional ACKs in Baden-Württemberg , Bavaria , Berlin-Brandenburg (Ecumenical Council), Bremen , Hamburg , Hesse and Rheinhessen , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Lower Saxony , North Rhine-Westphalia , Southwest region in Rhineland-Palatinate (excluding the Rhine-Hessian one Part) and the Saarland , Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt , Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia .

At regional and local level, the term ACK occasionally stands for “Working Group of Christian Churches”.

The nationwide ACK and the regional and local ACKs work together in different ways, but they are not superordinate or subordinate to one another.

literature

  • Erich Geldbach: The German Ecumenical Study Committee (DÖSTA). Chronicle of the first five decades . Otto Lembeck Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / Bonifatius, Paderborn 2010, ISBN 978-3-87476-624-1 (Lembeck), ISBN 978-3-89710-474-7 (Bonifatius).
  • Dennis Meier, Annette, Reimers-Avenarius (eds.): Confess the common faith. Declarations and texts of the Theological Commission of the Working Group of Christian Churches in Hamburg from four decades . Steinmann Verlag, Neuenkirchen, 2nd, expanded edition 2019, ISBN 978-3-927043-76-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martin Elze: Further Christian churches and other religious communities. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. 4 volumes, Volume I-III / 2, Theiss, Stuttgart 2001-2007; III / 1–2: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century. 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9 , pp. 495-498, here: p. 495.
  2. ↑ Classification according to Johannes Oeldemann: The Churches of the Christian East. Orthodox, oriental and Eastern churches united with Rome. Regensburg 2nd edition 2008, pages 9-14.
  3. ↑ Archpriest Radu Constantin Miron is the new ACK chairman. ACK, April 4, 2019, accessed June 19, 2019 (press release).
  4. ↑ New ACK management. ACK, April 3, 2019, accessed June 19, 2019 (press release).
  5. ^ Pastor Bernd Densky is the new free church advisor. ACK, July 1, 2013, accessed October 29, 2017 (press release).
  6. ↑ Erich Geldbach: The German Ecumenical Study Committee (DÖSTA). Chronicle of the first five decades . Otto Lembeck Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / Bonifatius, Paderborn 2010, pp. 21-22.