German Evangelical Church Congress 2001

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The 29th German Evangelical Church Congress 2001 took place from June 13 to 17, 2001 in Frankfurt am Main . It stood under the slogan "You put my feet in a wide space" ( Ps 31,9  LUT ). The host regional church was the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau (EKHN). The President of the Kirchentag was Martin Dolde .

invitation

For the fourth time after 1956 , 1975 and 1987 the Kirchentag took place in Frankfurt am Main. The events were divided into three subject areas: Believing in Diversity , Living in Dignity and Existing in Freedom . The invitation from church president Peter Steinacker and provost Helga Trösken had a clear ecumenical orientation.

There was already a conflict about the organization of the evening meal in advance . A project group of the Kirchentag had proposed a liturgy in which the traditional words of institution “ This is my body! "And" This cup is the new covenant in my blood "have been replaced by" My life for you "and" Taste and see what strengthens and sets free for life ". In the theological commentary it said: “We are finally leaving behind the idea of ​​eating meat and drinking blood”. The Limburg bishop Franz Kamphaus had made it clear that Catholics were not allowed to attend the evening meal. With a view to the first Ecumenical Church Congress planned for 2003 in Berlin and the hopes that communion between Protestant and Catholic Christians would be possible by then, the Church Assembly Presidium and the EKHN church leadership finally joined in the criticism of the liturgy draft and for the use of the traditional New Testament words of institution.

course

The Kirchentag began with the opening services on Wednesday, June 13, 2001. In addition to the central celebration on Römerberg , there were services in 51 churches in the city. Afterwards, the host EKHN invited to the evening of the encounter in downtown Frankfurt. 92,947 permanent guests and 31,166 participants took part in the more than 2500 events of the Kirchentag at the Frankfurt exhibition grounds and at numerous other locations in the city. About a quarter of the participants were Catholics. About 70,000 visitors came to the closing service in the Waldstadion .

One of the focal points was the debate on genetic engineering , in which numerous scientists and politicians also took part. Most of the participants expressed their reservations about research involving human embryos.

Conservative church circles criticized the broad spectrum of events and the open discussions and accused the Kirchentag of “arbitrariness”. Hartmut Steeb criticized: "The Kirchentag represents such a broad pluralism that it no longer sends a message"

literature

  • Christoph Quarch, Dirk Rademacher (ed.): German Evangelical Church Congress 2001 - Documents , Gütersloher Verlagshaus 2001, ISBN 3-579-00469-7
  • Jürgen Telschow: History of the Evangelical Church in Frankfurt am Main . Volume III: From the post-war period to the present (=  series of publications by the Evangelical Regional Association Frankfurt am Main . No. 42 ). Waldemar Kramer in the publishing house Römerweg GmbH, Wiesbaden 2019, ISBN 978-3-922179-56-6 , p. 184 .

Web links

Commons : Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag 2001  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung No. 120 of May 25, 2001, p. 64
  2. ↑ Heart-strengthening means for the people. The forest of leaves rushes to the Kirchentag. In: faz.net. June 13, 2001. Retrieved December 28, 2019 .
  3. ↑ The "arbitrary" Kirchentag is over. In: faz.net. June 17, 2001, Retrieved December 28, 2019 .