Baptists in the northwest

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Basic data
Management: Wilma Lükenga-Kruse (Head)
Pastor Volkmar Janke
and Helmut Mühring
(Deputy)
Membership: BEFG ,
AcK
Lower Saxony, Bremen
Regional associations 2 (Emslandmisson,
Ems-Jade-Mission )
Parishes and branches: 50
Baptized parishioners: 6594 (December 31, 2006)
Official Website: www.baptistenimnordwesten.de

Baptists in the Northwest has been theofficial name of the Northwest Germany Regional Association of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches in Germany since April 9, 2005 . Geographically, this regional union includes Bremen , north-western Lower Saxony with the districts of Rotenburg , Verden , Nienburg / Weser , Diepholz , the Osnabrücker Land , the Emsland and East Friesland and the former Land of Oldenburg .

history

Baptist preacher of the Northwest German Association around 1860

The roots of the Baptists in the northwest go back to the beginnings of German Baptism. Johann Gerhard Oncken , the founder of the German and continental European Baptists, laid the foundation stone for the first church planting in this area through his numerous visits to East Friesland, Oldenburg and Bremen. The oldest congregation in the region is the Evangelical Free Church in Oldenburg, which is its current name. It was founded in 1837 . It was followed by the municipalities of Jever ( 1840 ), Bremen ( 1845 ) and yours ( 1846 ). Bremen, Jever and theirs developed into the starting point for many other church plantings. Its pioneers were Johann Ludwig Hinrichs , Johann Friedrich Oncken , Wilhelm Haupt and Pieter de Neui . Until 1905 , the Baptists in the northwest belonged to the so-called Northwest German Association of the German Baptist Union . The annual conference of this association decided in 1906 in Oldenburg to split up into two independent regional associations. The constitution followed this decision. The 17 congregations of the north-eastern unification area called themselves from then on the North German Association , the 16 congregations of today's Baptists in the north-west kept the old names until 2005.

Municipalities and Statistics

In 2011, the Baptists in the northwest included 43 congregations and 7 branch congregations with a total of around 6,600 baptized members. If you add family members and friends who have not yet been baptized, this number has to be roughly doubled. This means that the number of Northwest German Baptist congregations has tripled in the 100 years of their existence.

Baptists in the northwest experienced particular growth spurts in the 1920s and - due to the immigration of refugees from the former German eastern regions - in the 1950s. In the last two decades of the 20th century, further churches were founded: Meppen , Esens , Cloppenburg , Lilienthal and Sedelsberg . A community planting initiative has existed in Ostrhauderfehn since 2005 .

Structure, finances and tasks of the regional association

Congregation of the National Baptist Association in the Northwest

The state association of Baptists in the northwest is divided into the two districts of Oldenburg / Bremen and East Friesland / Emsland / Osnabrück. The district assemblies each elect half of the association leadership, which consists of pastors and non- pastors on an equal footing.

Depending on the number of members, the municipalities of the regional association send 2 to 7 members to the annual council meeting , at which decisions are made on all essential questions of the association. The members of the regional council confirm the members of the management elected in the districts. This in turn proposes the President and his / her deputy from among their number for confirmation.

The association management appoints clerks for certain areas of responsibility, whose appointment must also be approved by the association council. The individual communities pay a certain amount (currently approx. 15 euros / year) to the regional association for each member. The community youth work of the regional association is financed from this money and other collections and donations . A building fund supports building projects in the local communities on the loan route. Smaller communities receive grants from the association's fund for their personnel costs. The members of the association management work on a voluntary basis and receive - if desired - only an expense allowance.

The focal points of the association's work include

  • supra-local youth work for which a youth pastor is responsible;
  • helping with internal church development as well as planning and implementing new churches in the region; In this context, the regional association set up so-called mission areas - for example Ems-Jade-Mission , Emsland-Mission, Missionsgebiet Südoldenburg;
  • the training of volunteers in the field service and in the various areas of church work (church leadership, age- and gender-specific groups, Sunday school );
  • moderation in conflict situations

gallery

literature

  • Rudolf Donat: The growing work . Kassel 1960.
  • Margarete Jelten: Under God's roof tiles. Beginnings of Baptism in the Northwest . Bremerhaven 1984.
  • Association of Evangelical Free Churches in Germany: Yearbook 2004 . Kassel 2005.
  • Vereinigung Nordwestdeutschland: Vereinigungbote - Information from the work of the association (founded in 1954).

See also

Web links