Synod of Emden

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The Synod of Emden took place from October 4 to 13. October 1571 in Emden instead. It was the first national synod of the Dutch Reformed and has decisively shaped the self- image and the presbyterial-synodal church order of the Reformed churches to this day.

Historical background

In the course of the increasing pressure that Charles V, as King of Spain, exerted on the Netherlands after the Reformation , thousands of religious refugees of the Reformed faith left the Netherlands from the mid-1540s. The conflict escalated when the Duke of Alba acted as governor of the Habsburg Netherlands between 1567 and 1573 on the orders of King Philip II of Spain, violently against the rebellious Protestants and their sympathizers. Tens of thousands then fled to England and Germany and founded Dutch communities there. In Emden there was a large Reformed community in which the Dutch-speaking refugees were integrated due to the same language. There was also a Walloon-speaking Reformed community. Already at the Wesel Convention (1568) a binding church order was decided for the refugee communities, based on a three-level synodal system. In a circular from Gaspar van der Heyden (Jasparus Heydanus) to the Dutch congregations on March 21, 1570, three further points of advice were addressed that required further clarification: the training of future preachers, the type of cooperation between the congregations and the care of refugees traveling through .

course

The Emden Synod was carried out completely independently of the state authorities. It was also the sole responsibility of a Reformed church community to implement the synodal resolutions.

The invitation letter dated June 30, 1571, was written in Heidelberg and signed by Petrus Dathenus , Johannes Taffinus and Petrus Colonius. The beginning of the synod was set for October 1st, 1571. After Cologne had been proposed as the conference venue, Emden was found to be more suitable out of consideration for a delegation expected from England. When the English participants did not arrive, this delayed the beginning of the synod so that the synod did not open until October 4th. After the resolution and the signing of the church ordinance, the Emden synod ended on October 13, 1571. The place of assembly was the former armory at Faldern Gate, which has now served as the preaching place of the French community. This building, which later became the old town hall, was completely destroyed in the Second World War.

The resolutions were signed by 29 people. Gaspar van der Heyden , pastor in Frankenthal acted as president of the synod, Jean Taffin (Joannes Taffinus), pastor of the French congregation in Heidelberg, as assessor , and Johannes Kerckhoven (Polyander) , pastor of the French congregation in Emden, as secretary. Among the 29 signatories are three future and two former pastors and five elders. There may be other synod participants who did not sign. The 19 pastors came from Dutch or French congregations in Germany ( Aachen , Emden, Emmerich , Frankenthal, Heidelberg, Cologne, Wesel ) as well as from Antwerp , Ghent , Amsterdam , Brielle and West Friesland . However, half of the participants were now at home in East Frisian refugee communities.

content

The Emden Synod developed principles for offices in the local Church and the synodal structure of the Reformed Church as a whole. She adopted and signed a church ordinance and answers to a catalog with specific questions. The 53 Articles Generalia are followed by 25 Articles Particularia, which deal with inquiries from individual parishes, as well as a synodal order on the competences and tasks of the synodal bodies. The resolutions were recorded in Latin as the lingua franca.

A hierarchical church structure was rejected in favor of the principle of subsidiarity . The first paragraph can be considered programmatic:

"No congregation should claim priority or rule over other congregations, no pastor over other pastors, no elder over other elders, no deacon over other deacons, but rather they should avoid the slightest suspicion and every opportunity."

- Synod of Emden : Generalia, Paragraph 1

The representatives of the synod developed a three-stage presbyterial-synodal structure with classical assemblies, particular synods and general synods based on the French "Ordonnances ecclesiastiques" (1559). As a result, the local congregation is autonomous and regulates its own affairs itself. Overarching issues are regulated by the Classis as an association of regional congregations that send at least two representatives of the presbytery each (preacher and elders).

"If something happens in a congregation of the Classis that cannot be proven by its consistory, it should be examined and decided at the Classical Assembly, then an appeal to the Provincial Synod is possible."

- Synod of Emden : The Classical Assemblies, Paragraph 3

The Classis has no authority under church law or church government. It is mainly located in the area of ​​supra-church supervision, visitations and church discipline. She also conducts the examination of candidate preachers and the ordinations . In terms of its functions, the Classis roughly corresponds to the Lutheran superintendent . The superregional particular synod or provincial synod is superordinate to the Classis and the general synod is responsible for national affairs .

literature

  • Evangelical Reformed Church in Northwest Germany (Ed.): 1571 Emden Synod 1971. Contributions to the history and the 400th anniversary . Neukirchener, Neukirchen 1973 (German translation of the resolutions on pp. 49–66).
  • JF Gerhard Goeters (Ed.): The files of the Synod of the Dutch Churches in Emden from 4th to 13th. October 1571 - In the Latin basic text together with the old Dutch, French and German translations . Neukirchener Verlag des Erziehungsverein, Neukirchen-Vluyn 1971.
  • Matthias Freudenberg , Aleida Siller (ed.): Emder Synode 1571. Nature and effects of a basic text of modernity. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2020, ISBN 978-3-525-56726-5 (resolutions and documents in today's German, with a detailed introduction).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Menno Smid : East Frisian Church History . Self-published, Pewsum 1974, p. 194, 199 (Ostfriesland in the protection of the dyke, vol. 6).
  2. ↑ Images in: Evangelical Reformed Church in Northwest Germany (Ed.): 1571 Emder Synod 1971. Contributions to history and the 400th anniversary . Neukirchener, Neukirchen 1973, pp. 198-199.
  3. ↑ Menno Smid: East Frisian Church History. Self-published, Pewsum 1974, p. 199 (Ostfriesland im Schutz des Deiches, Vol. 6).
  4. ^ Jan Pieter van Dooren: List of participants in the Emden Synod of 1571. In: Evangelical-Reformed Church in Northwest Germany (Ed.): 1571 Emden Synod 1971. Contributions to the history and the 400th anniversary. Neukirchener, Neukirchen 1973, pp. 36-44.
  5. ^ JF Gerhard Goeters: The Emden Synod of 1571. In: Evangelical-Reformed Church in Northwest Germany (Ed.): 1571 Emder Synod 1971. Contributions to the history and the 400th anniversary. Neukirchener, Neukirchen 1973, p. 188.
  6. ↑ Dieter Perlich: The files of the synod of the Dutch congregations, which are under the cross and are scattered in Germany and East Friesland, held in Emden, October 4, 1571 . In: Evangelical Reformed Church in Northwest Germany (Ed.): 1571 Emder Synod 1971. Contributions to history and the 400th anniversary . Neukirchener, Neukirchen 1973, p. 49.
  7. ↑ Dieter Perlich: The files of the synod of the Dutch congregations, which are under the cross and are scattered in Germany and East Friesland, held in Emden, October 4, 1571 . In: Evangelical Reformed Church in Northwest Germany (Ed.): 1571 Emder Synod 1971. Contributions to history and the 400th anniversary . Neukirchener, Neukirchen 1973, p. 62.
  8. ^ JF Gerhard Goeters: The Emden Synod of 1571 . In: Evangelical Reformed Church in Northwest Germany (Ed.): 1571 Emder Synod 1971. Contributions to history and the 400th anniversary . Neukirchener, Neukirchen 1973, p. 201.