Baptists in Switzerland

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Basic data
Official
name:
German Switzerland :
Federation of Swiss Baptist churches (BSB)
Welsch Switzerland :
Union Évangélique d'Eglises Baptiste de Suisse (UEEBS)
Spiritual
direction:
BSB:
Federal
Management BSB UEEBS
:?
Membership: Baptist World Federation
European Baptist Federation
VFG - Free Churches Switzerland
Local communities: approx. 22 (including independent Baptist churches)
Parishioners: BSB:
approx. 1000 baptized
(excluding children, relatives and friends)
UEEBS:
approx. 500 baptized
Independent Baptists
 :?
Address: Federation of Swiss Baptist
Congregations Streulistr. 2, CH-8032 Zurich

Union Évangélique d'Églises Baptistes de Suisse
Rue du Temple 13, 2738 Court

Training center u. a .: Theological Seminary Elstal , Germany
Website: Federation of Swiss Baptist Congregations

There is evidence that Baptists in Switzerland have existed since 1847 .

The Swiss Baptists

In Switzerland there are two Baptist unions and a number of independent Baptist congregations.

Federation of Swiss Baptist Congregations

The Federation of Swiss Baptist Congregations includes congregations in the following cities and towns: Baden - Wettingen , Basel , Bülach , Lugano ( Italian-speaking ), Schaffhausen , St. Gallen , Thalwil and Zurich 7 . There are also three international congregations: the International Baptist Church of Zurich IBCZ in Rüschlikon ( English-speaking ), as well as the Igreja Batista Brasileira em Basel IBBB and the Igreja Batista Brasileira de Zurich IBBZ (both Portuguese-speaking ). The two Brazilian Baptist congregations mainly consist of believers with a migration background, their specialty are services for victims of human trafficking.

These congregations have a total of around 1,000 congregation members (only baptized , without children and friends), an average of around 85 per congregation; the average number of visitors to a Sunday service is 78 (2015 figures). The main burden in preaching and pastoral work is usually carried by one or more full-time or part-time employees ( pastors , pastors ).

The individual municipalities send delegates to the annual Federal Assembly according to their membership strength. This decides on all matters of the Swiss Baptist Union, sets the budget and elects the federal management and the president of the federal government for a four-year term of office. She also controls the federal finances through two auditors appointed by her .

The federal government sets up commissions that include a. Responsible for the following work areas: finances, domestic missions, external missions (in cooperation with the European Baptist Mission ), women's work, further training of full-time and voluntary employees as well as child and youth work.

The Federation of Swiss Baptist Congregations is a member of the European Baptist Federation and the World Baptist Federation .

Article 1 of the Federal Constitution ("Nature and Purpose") reads:

"In faith in one Lord Jesus Christ, head of the Church and Lord of the world, Baptist congregations in Switzerland form a covenant. Based on the testimony of Scripture , the covenant promotes, in accordance with Baptist doctrine and practice:

Gospel preaching , fellowship, training, guidance in the Christian life and service in human society. The federal government advocates freedom of belief and conscience and advocates the separation of church and state . For the sake of preaching the gospel and serving the world, the covenant welcomes cooperation with other churches . "

Union Évangélique d'Églises Baptistes de Suisse

The six parishes of Biel , Court , Geneva , Malleray , Moutier and Tramelan in western Switzerland have joined forces to form the Union Évangélique d'Églises Baptistes de Suisse , which is part of the Association Evangelique d'Eglises Baptistes de Langue Française .

Independent Baptist Churches

There are independent Baptist congregations in western Switzerland in Geneva ( English-speaking ) and Payerne, among others, as well as Reformed Baptists in Lausanne , Neuchâtel and Bulle FR, among others .

history

Baptist Salems Chapel in Zurich

Johann Gerhard Oncken , the founder of the German Baptist congregation , is also considered the founder of the oldest Swiss Baptist congregation. It was constituted by him in 1847 in Ebnat-Kappel / Toggenburg . Nucleus was a free Bible study group , whose members by virtue of their employment with the Taufzeugnissen of the New Testament that believers' baptism coveted. Just two years after the Toggenburg church was founded, the Baptist church in Zurich came into being. Oncken also spent the last years of his life here until his death on January 2, 1884 .

The Swiss Baptist congregations initially belonged to the Union of Baptized Christians (Baptists) founded in Hamburg in 1849 . In 1924 , the eight municipalities in German-speaking Switzerland now wanted to found their own national association. This is how the Federation of Baptist Congregations in Switzerland came into being . Since 2003 the official name has been: Federation of Swiss Baptist Congregations .

In the West Switzerland formed because of an outreach initiative of France from 1872 first Baptist church in Tramelan . Over the decades, five more congregations emerged in this region, which are now organized in the Union Évangélique d'Églises Baptistes de Suisse .

Ecumenism

The Swiss Baptists work on site with other churches in many areas. They belong to the Association of Evangelical Free Churches and Congregations in Switzerland and are also involved in the work of the Evangelical Alliance . Some of them also work in the Working Group of Christian Churches .

Web links

literature

  • Lothar Nittnaus: Baptists in Switzerland, their roots and their history . WDL-Verlag, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-932356-71-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. See website of the Swiss Confederation , which also lists the websites of the individual municipalities. Retrieved February 27, 2020.