Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baden
| Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baden | |
|---|---|
| General | |
| branch | Protestantism |
| Belief |
Evangelical-Lutheran old denomination |
| Superintendent | Christian Bereuther |
| membership | Lutheran World Federation , Working Group of Christian Churches in Baden-Württemberg, United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (guest member) |
| founding | |
| Establishment date | from 1850 |
| numbers | |
| Members | 3,200 |
| Clergy | 7 pastors |
| Communities | 6th |
| Others | |
| Tax position | Public corporation |
| Website | elkib.de |
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baden (ELKiB) (not to be confused with the Evangelical Regional Church in Baden ) is a Lutheran church with an old denominational character. It has the status of a corporation under public law with its seat in Freiburg im Breisgau , Stadtstraße 22.
General
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baden is committed to the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as the only guideline by which all teaching should be judged, and is suitable for the three general creeds of Christianity, namely the Apostolic, the Nicene and Athanasian, and the special confessions of the Lutheran Church, namely the unchanged Augsburg Confession and its apology, the Schmalkaldic Articles, Luther's Great and Small Catechism and the formula of the Concord as those confessions in which the pure doctrine of the Scriptures is expressed. Through this her confession she knows that she is in church fellowship with all churches and parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran confession, especially with those in Germany (preamble to the church order).
The ELKiB is closely associated with other Lutheran churches in Germany, but does not formally belong to any other church (such as the SELK ). She is a member of the German National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation (DNK) and enjoys guest status in the VELKD . She works as a founding member of the Christian Churches Working Group (ACK) in Baden-Württemberg and in the local working groups.
The ELKiB has around 3200 members in six parishes (status: 2010).
history
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baden was built in 1850 in response to the already in 1821 in what was then the Grand Duchy of Baden performed Union of Lutheran and Reformed churches to "United Protestant regional church in the Grand Duchy of Baden." In particular because of the union catechism introduced in 1834, which strongly mixed the two earlier confessions, Carl Eichhorn, pastor in Nußloch in northern Baden , separated from the uniate regional church in 1850 . Some parishioners followed him. They founded the first "free church Lutheran congregation" in Durlach near Karlsruhe. Shortly thereafter, another community was founded in Ihringen am Kaiserstuhl in southern Baden . Eichhorn and the communities joined the Old Lutherans in Prussia , but was initially not recognized and harassed by the state. It was not until 1856 that the Grand Duchy of Baden issued a toleration decree. After that, further congregations arose, which were allowed to unite into one church in 1865 (formation of a synod). However, it was not officially recognized as a corporation under public law until 1919 after the First World War . In 1926 the Synod of the Church gave itself its current name. The chairman of the church leadership was a pastor of a parish with the title senior , from 1948 superintendent .
The church formed connections with Lutheran congregations in Hesse and Hanover and was at times also a member of a predecessor church of today's SELK , which it left in 1965. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baden has been a member of the Lutheran World Federation since 1968 . In 1981 church fellowship between the SELK and the ELKiB was officially established. The ordination of women was introduced by the synod in 1994 after a majority decision. Because of this, the church fellowship was restricted by the SELK. The General Parish Convention 2001 and the General Church Synod of the SELK 2003 affirmed the existing church community, but stated that it was not possible for a pastor of the SELK to officiate with a pastor in the ELKiB. Church fellowship cannot be demanded. In 2011, Cornelia Hübner was the first time a pastor was appointed to one of the ELKiB's pastoral positions.
Communities
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baden comprises the following seven congregations and preaching sites:
- Johannis community Baden-Baden - (St. John's Church)
- Erlöser-Gemeinde Freiburg im Breisgau - (Erlöserkirche)
- Margarethenkirche Müllheim (Baden) , preaching place since 1968
- Siloah Congregation Ispringen - (Siloah Church)
- Karlsruhe - (Simeon Church / Chapel at the Old Cemetery)
- Pforzheim - (Luther Church)
- Christ Church Lörrach - Steinen - ( Christ Church in Steinen )
organization
The ELKiB consists of their communities. Each municipality regulates and arranges its affairs largely independently. The ELKiB has a synodal constitution, i. H. the synod leads the church, quasi as a "parliament".
Each congregation sends its pastor, a church minister and one representative for every 500 parishioners to the synod. A synodal period lasts six years.
The synod elects four representatives from among its members for the duration of their electoral term, who together with the superintendent and his deputy form the synodal committee. The synodal committee is the executive committee of the synod. He represents the ELKiB externally. The Synodal Committee has to report to the Synod on its activities. He submits the annual accounts to the Synod and drafts the budget.
The spiritual direction of the ELKiB lies with the superintendent , who has the function of bishop in the church. He is the chairman of the synod. He has to visit the congregations and perform ordinations and introductions. Each congregation is visited once during a synodal period. The superintendent is elected by the synod. His term of office lasts ten years. The current superintendent is Rev. Christian Bereuther.
His deputy is Rev. Dr. João Carlos Schmidt.
administration
The ELKiB is self-administered. Since 1919, the ELKiB communities have been recognized as corporations under public law. As the church, it regulates its own affairs. The synod also determines the contributions due. By resolution of the synod, the ELKiB does not participate in the church tax deduction by the tax offices in order to be independent of the state and its tax policy. The individual congregations levy a staggered church contribution from their members, depending on their income, which the synod has set.
The congregations appoint their clergy themselves, whereby the appointment of the candidate must be determined beforehand by the synodal committee with advice from the parish convention.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Number of members of the ELKiB from the statistical report of the Lutheran World Federation 2011 p. 9. ( Memento from September 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 199 kB)
- ↑ Community letter April / May 2011 of the Freiburg ELKiB community, p. 2nd community letter October / November 2011 of the community Freiburg ( Memento of the original from December 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 438 kB)
