German Evangelical Church Congress 2005

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The 30th German Evangelical Church Congress took place from May 25th to 29th, 2005 under the motto “If your child asks you tomorrow ...” ( 5 Mos 6.20  EU ) in Hanover .

105,074 permanent participants and contributors attended the event, including 3,664 foreign guests from 87 countries. In the market of possibilities and the presentation stands there were 7,731 participants, 4,537 participants played in wind choirs. In addition, there were a large number of day visitors, 140,000 visitors were counted on Thursday alone on the exhibition grounds .

58.9% of the participants were female, 8% Catholic, the mean age was 36 years. Around 56,000 cardboard stools were folded to seat the participants .

The 600-page program offered over 3,000 events. For the first time in the history of the Kirchentag, there were Kirchentag holidays throughout Lower Saxony.

Sea of ​​lights at the end of the evening meeting on the Hohe Ufer

people

The President of the 30th Kirchentag was Eckhard Nagel , General Secretary Friederike von Kirchbach . The managing directors were Tilman Henke and Hartwig Bodmann.

Thematic focus

Blue climate scarf

The topics of the Kirchentag 2005 were headed:

  • Subject area 1: How can we believe?
  • Subject area 2: How do we want to live?
  • Subject area 3: How should we act?

The Kirchentag 2005 placed a special focus on climate protection with a special campaign . This was advertised with:

  • 80,000 blue "climate scarves" with the inscription "Kirchentag für Klimaschutz",
  • a climate market on which initiatives and associations for climate protection presented themselves, and
  • a voucher for a green electricity contract or a free heating cost report for each participant.

program

Opening services and evening of meeting

The Kirchentag began with five opening services. An opening service with prominent participants (including: Lord Mayor Herbert Schmalstieg , Federal President Horst Köhler , Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder , Prime Minister Christian Wulff , Regional Bishop Margot Käßmann ) took place on a stage on Opernplatz in the city center.

The traditional commemoration at the beginning was dedicated to the around 200,000 mentally ill who were murdered under National Socialism.

Around 400,000 people came to the subsequent evening of the meeting in Hanover's city center, more than ever before for a church convention. More than 400 groups and initiatives from the Lower Saxony regional churches presented themselves to the guests with stands and a varied program. The evening ended with a specially composed concert of the bells of the six inner-city churches by the light of 100,000 candles.

Focus on exhibition grounds

Event location Expo-Wal , formerly the Pavilion of Hope by WVD , CVJM and DEA .
Picture from an event at the Kirchentag 2005

A lot of events took place on the exhibition grounds . A total of approx. 60,000 places were available on the exhibition grounds (including the Expo-Plaza and Expo-Wal ).

Children's center

For the first time at a Kirchentag there was a children's center in which a special Kirchentag program was offered for children: the spectrum ranged from hands-on and handicraft stations, through musicals for children, to question time with regional bishop Margot Käßmann. Every day 12,000 children came to this center.

Long night of the churches

The idea of combining the evening meal with a "Long Night of the Churches" was new . Various spiritual and cultural events such as exhibitions, concerts or church services took place in Hanover's churches until after midnight.

Closing service

At the end, 105,000 people celebrated a sacrament service on Schützenplatz. The sermon was given by the Dutch theologian and former Roman Catholic priest and songwriter Huub Oosterhuis . The main focus of the sermon was the appeal to the participants to actively work for a better and more just world in their lives. Oosterhuis referred to the tradition of Judaism, in which human responsibility in the world is valued higher than esoteric experiences and otherworldly scenarios. With regard to the much discussed topic of globalization, he called for a globalization of hearts in order to counter the unacceptable poverty of many. The German Evangelical Church Congress was invited to Cologne for 2007.

Songs for the Kirchentag

The song booklet "Lifestyle" was published for the Kirchentag, which is also used in the hosting Hanoverian regional church after the Kirchentag as a supplement to the Protestant hymn book . Here you can also find some songs that were written especially for the Kirchentag:

Materials on these songs can also be found on the website of the Arbeitsstelle Kirchentag (see below).

Helper services

Kirchentag helper scarf

The Kirchentag in Hanover was supported by 4,386 helpers who came together from all over Germany to volunteer to take over the construction and dismantling, stewardship and other auxiliary services.

Balance sheet

The topic "what should we believe" was in a family-oriented context and was also worked out in a child-friendly manner. In the children's center in particular, an independent program of Bible study and church services was offered for children. A joint communion celebration for children and adults held for the first time met with such a broad response that the introduction of similar forms of worship in their own congregation was discussed. For the first time, storytelling workshops were offered in the Bible Center by children's worship officers. Parents and employees of church institutions were able to get ideas for teaching beliefs in a way that is appropriate for children.

The church work in the area of ​​tension between empty coffers and the lower importance of the individual parishes was also discussed. Nationally, the aging of society in particular, combined with the growing lack of prospects for many young people, was placed at the center of the church discussion. The situation of Hartz IV recipients who do € 1 jobs in church institutions was critically examined. The ethical justifiability of these work opportunities was fundamentally questioned. This Kirchentag saw itself as part of the globalized world and discussed in detail climate change and its consequences , in particular the ethical problem of the privatization of water supply. The Kirchentag was again marked by ecumenical efforts to promote exchanges with other faiths. Particularly noteworthy here are joint events by Christians and followers of Islam .

As a result of the ethical debate on the dangers and undesirable developments of the globalization process, it was decided to announce the content of the Millennium Development Goals in all congregations and to vehemently demand their achievement via the church leadership and the congregation members from governments. It was agreed to report regularly on the implementation status by 2015. This report is to be presented by the Federal President at every church convention.

The song booklet "Lifestyle" created by the Kirchentag for the Kirchentag was adopted as a regular hymn book addition for the entire Hanover regional church. This Kirchentag has concrete effects on the parish life of the following min. 20–30 years (hymnbooks are generally used in this range).

Resolutions

In the context of the focus "How should we act", the DFG-VK Bayern initiated a resolution to the members of the German Bundestag. This called for a 5% reduction in the armaments budget and called for the amount saved to be invested in social projects, a sustainable energy policy and development aid.

In addition, the Kirchentag passed a resolution on globalization, which calls for the unconditional priority of human life over all other - above all economic - interests. The church should exercise a guardianship.

literature

  • Eckhard Nagel / Christoph Quarch / Christiane Begerau: German Evangelical Church Congress Hanover 2005. Documents , Gütersloher Verlagshaus 2006, ISBN 3579004670
  • The purple thread. The accompanying book for the Kirchentag 2005 , ISBN 3937301305
  • Jürgen Fitschen / Julia Helmke: How do we want to live? The question, the sand, the answers. Monumental sand steles by Bernhard Wimmer on the occasion of the 30th German Protestant Church Congress 2005 in Hanover , Gerhard Marcks Foundation 2006, ISBN 3924412545
  • Fritz E. Anhelm: Can "a blessing" be evaluated? The Kirchentag in Hanover and its evaluation for further work in the regional church , Evangelical Academy Lokkum 2006, ISBN 3817279051

See also

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ epd agency report and lyrics , accessed on February 22, 2020
  2. ↑ http://www.kirchentag2005.de/s9y/index.php?/archives/185-Globalisierung-Resolution-des-Kirchentags.html#extended