Determined for Christ

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German youth association “Decided for Christ” (EC) e. V.
Ec11.svg
purpose Disciples of young people so that they too can call others to follow Jesus
Chair: Hartmut fighters
Establishment date: 1894
Seat : kassel
Website: www.ec-jugend.de

Decided for Christ (EC), in the English-speaking area Christian Endeavor (CE), is an international, non-denominational Christian youth movement with an evangelical character that works in over 60 countries. She sees her task in spreading the Christian message in an evangelical understanding. This is done largely through the voluntary work of interested young people and young adults, who usually meet weekly in small groups. These young people are supported by the full-time work of so-called speakers.

Contacts between the national associations are coordinated by the EC World Association (World Christian Endeavor Union).

In Germany, the EC is a member of the bka e. Along with 35 other national associations . V. , the Federal Association for Cultural Work in Protestant Youth. V. The associations ensure the diversity and quality of youth cultural work in the Bundesverband Kulturarbeit in der Evangelischen Jugend e. V. and can not least thanks to the association in the bka e. V. take effect nationwide.

history

The youth work was initiated by the American parish priest Francis E. Clark in Portland (Maine) in 1881. The movement soon gained worldwide attention and as early as 1894 there were 56,000 youth groups with almost 4 million members who joined together in a joint association that year (Christian Endeavor Society). In October 1913, a parliament building was set up in Berlin-Friedrichshagen . After the First World War , the awakening time was reflected in almost all parts of Germany in increasing membership numbers. Within four years, from 1918 to 1922, the number of members tripled (1922: 1,330 youth groups with 40,000 members). In 1926 a former sanatorium was acquired in Woltersdorf near Erkner as the new federal headquarters. A particular highlight of the international EC movement was the first EC World Federation Conference held on German soil in Berlin in 1930, attended by visitors from 37 countries.

EC promise

The EC promise is a commitment that sums up the substantive activities of the association. In terms of form and content, the EC promise is based on the creed of the Catholic or Protestant Church. In the EC pledge, the spokesman is committed not only to the association itself, but also to the mission.

“Jesus Christ is my Savior and Lord!
That's why I want to give him the honor and shape my life according to his will.
I want to listen to his word, read the bible and pray.
I want to work in the EC, participate in the life of my church and strengthen the Christian community.
I want to show other people the way to Jesus Christ.
I can't do it on my own.
I trust in Jesus Christ. "

Principles

There are four principles in the EC that bind its members together. They form the framework and provide orientation for your groups of children, young people, teenagers and youth groups. The EC principles are a proven foundation for actively living faith in the church and beyond.

“EC - that also means 'committed to Christ'. Living faith challenges young people to committed missionary and diaconal commitment.

  • decided for Christ
  • belonging to the community
  • connected with all Christians
  • sent into the world "

National Associations

EC work worldwide

The EC consists of 67 national associations worldwide, the names of which may differ from the German one (“Decided for Christ”).

Germany

In Germany, on October 7, 1894, the first German "Youth Association for Resolute Christianity" was founded. In 1903, the regional associations that had meanwhile come into being, which were closely related to Pietism , merged to form a national association. In October 1965 a book burning by a local EC group attracted national attention.

The seat of the German association is in Kassel . From there, the work of the 17 different regional associations is coordinated, most of which are still divided into various district associations. In general, the EC in Germany is organized as a free work within the Evangelical Church in Germany . However, depending on the association, it can also be integrated into the community movement . Under the leadership of Pastor Arno Pagel as the first federal pastor after the Second World War , the EC experienced a new beginning in western Germany because it was able to inspire young people. The camps he directed showed great missionary success. Through his missionary work, Pagel has shaped the history of the German EC Association up to the present day. From 1961 to 1964 he was also responsible for the aid to India of the EC Association and 1974–1982 President of the EC World Association. From 2004 to October 2018 Rudolf Westerheide was EC Federal Pastor. He heads the German EC Association on behalf of the Board of Directors. On January 1, 2020, after a vacancy, Klaus Göttler took over as the new EC Secretary General (as the previous position of the EC Federal Pastor is now called). He held this office on a provisional basis from 2002–2003. Simon Schuh has been federal manager since August 1, 2011.

Around 3500 youth groups of the German association reach over 50,000 young people.

The youth work of the German EC Association is financed 65 percent from donations and 5 percent from membership fees. 30 percent come from funds from the Federal Children's and Youth Plan (KJP funds) and from grants from the Evangelical Church in Germany. The individual regional associations are mostly independent, registered associations. Exceptions are the associations in Berlin-Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and the Southern German Association, which as unregistered associations are part of the respective community associations .

General Secretaries

Theological director of the German EC Association (initially as federal directors, from 1946 as federal pastor, since 2020 designated general secretaries)

  • 1919–1937: Gustav Schürmann
  • 1937–1944: Hans Sixt
  • 1944–1946: Otto Kaiser
  • 1946–1964: Arno Pagel
  • 1965–1970: Walter Lohrmann
  • 1971–1981: Rolf Woyke
  • 1982–1991: Christoffer Pfeiffer
  • 1991–1993: Gerhard Fitting
  • 1994–2002: Volker Steinhoff
  • 2002–2003: Klaus Göttler , acting
  • 2004–2018: Rudolf Westerheide
  • since 2020: Klaus Göttler

Regional associations

  • Bavarian Youth Association "Decided for Christ"
  • EC Chrischona Youth Work (ECJA)
  • State youth association "Decided for Christ" Hessen-Nassau
  • Youth association "Decided for Christ" Mecklenburg
  • EC-Nordbund
  • EC regional association Lower Saxony
  • EC regional association Ostwestfalen-Lippe
  • EC regional association Rhein-Main-Saar
  • Rheinisch-Westfälischer EC regional association
  • Saxon Youth Association "Decided for Christ"
  • EC Association for Child and Youth Work Saxony-Anhalt
  • South German youth association "Decided for Christ"
  • Southwest German youth association "Decided for Christ" (SWD-EC)
  • EC regional association Thuringia
  • Youth association "Decided for Christ" Western Pomerania
  • EC in the joint project Berlin-Brandenburg

The EC youth group in Seeboden / Carinthia is also assigned to the German EC association.

working area

  • Work with children (children's lessons, play programs and children's weeks, children's Bible days)
  • Young group work (working material for young group employees "JUMAT - young group material", young group days and young group free time)
  • Teenage work (employee magazine tec - "teens experience christus", EC-Friendscard, experiential education, (inpac), teenage days, evenings, weeks and camps)
  • Youth work (youth hours with conversations about God and the world, Bible seminars, confession and consecration hours, magazine “Echt.
  • Pathfinder Decided for Christ (PEC), since 2013.
  • Missionary work (missionary programs, tenting, evangelism and pastoral care)
  • Music, sport, culture (music and creative seminars, concerts, modules "music & more", German EC sports championships)
  • Educational work (seminar weekend and congress on biblical, youth-political and socially current topics, employee training)
  • EC India Aid is the social missionary work of the German EC Association and supports over 3000 children and young people together with partners and churches in India and Nepal.
  • The Baltic States Working Group maintains contacts and social projects in Eastern Europe.
  • Social-Diaconal work (help for people in crisis, with mental instability and faith problems in the EC pastoral care center)
  • Voluntary social services (recognized sponsor of the voluntary social year, nationwide mediation, support, seminars)
  • BORN-Verlag (specialist books for practical work with children and young people, working material, magazines, Bible reading "rays of light")
  • Ev. "Gottesfriede" hospital in Woltersdorf near Berlin (specialist hospital and day clinic for geriatrics )
  • EC meeting and education center "Haus Gottesfriede" with self-catering house in Wolterdorf near Berlin

EC pastoral care center

The pastoral care center is a work area of ​​the EC in Kassel that has existed since 1983 , initiated by the then Federal Pastor Rolf Woyke. The facility is a member of the Christian Life Aid Working Group , ACL . The center offers pastoral and socio-therapeutic help for people aged 16 to 35 with relationship and life issues, eating disorders, religious crises and mental illnesses.

People with cases of acute mental illness, with organic brain disorders or with drug addiction to be treated as a priority are not accepted.

Numbers (according to the association)

  • approx. 3,000 groups of children, young people, teenagers and young people
  • approx. 40,000 weekly participants
  • approx. 2,000,000 members worldwide

Periodicals

literature

  • Francis E. Clark , Memories of Many Men in Many Lands, Boston 1922. Autobiography of the founder of the EC Association.
  • Arno Pagel, EC-worldwide - Decided for Christ - Events and figures from a hundred-year history.
  • Klaus Rösler: The chair stayed empty at the wedding. Hanna Thiefelder goes through life alone, but not lonely , in: Die Gemeinde. The magazine of the Federation of Evangelical Free Churches No. 28 of December 24, 2006, p. 14 [without ISSN, ZDB -ID 1157992-4 ]. Hanna Thierfelder was part of the full-time job at the EC in the GDR.

Web links

Commons : Christian Endeavor  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. What is important to us: EC promise. In: ec-jugend.de. Retrieved December 8, 2017 .
  2. What is important to us: EC principles. In: ec-jugend.de. Retrieved November 7, 2018 .
  3. Jump up ↑ Crucial Christians: Happy Asceticism. In: Der Spiegel 43/1965. October 20, 1965, pp. 85-86 , accessed November 7, 2018 .
  4. EC Federal Pastor Rudolf Westerheide resigns from office. In: idea.de . February 19, 2018, accessed November 7, 2018 . Christhard Bidlingmaier: EC Federal Pastor Rudolf Westerheide said goodbye. EC Chrischona Jugendarbeit, October 15, 2018, accessed on October 26, 2018 .
  5. Klaus Göttler becomes the new EC Federal Pastor, pro-medienmagazin.de, article from March 15, 2019.
  6. Introduction of the new EC Secretary General , press release from the German EC Association
  7. Michelle Kossel: Faith: In the germ cell of longing. In: Zeit Online . November 4, 2004, accessed November 7, 2018 .
  8. Guidelines of the South German EC ; Statute of the Thuringian Association ; Homepage of the EC youth of the GWBB ; Homepage of the Saxon EC ; accessed on January 22, 2020.
  9. History of the EC in Germany at a glance
  10. Klaus Göttler introduced as the first EC Secretary General , idea.de, notification of March 9, 2020.
  11. German EC Association starts pathfinder work , idea.de message from December 20, 2013
  12. Pastoral work celebrates its 40th anniversary , idea.de, article from September 2, 2019.