Evangelical Reformed Church Switzerland
The Evangelical Reformed Church Switzerland (short EKS ; by the end of 2019 Swiss Protestant Churches SEK ), headquartered in Bern , the merger is reformed cantonal churches (mostly - except for the cantons of Neuchâtel and Geneva - regional churches ) and the United Methodist Church in Switzerland . The EKS is committed to a uniform creed.
history
The SEK was founded in 1920; Predecessor organizations were the Protestant Diet and the “Swiss Reformed Church Conference” that was created in 1858. In 1946 he founded the aid organization of the Evangelical Churches in Switzerland (HEKS) and in 1963 the collective organization Bread for Brothers, which has been called Bread for All since 1990 . 1970 was created Social Ethics Institute, which in 2004 the Institute of Theology and Ethics has been renamed.
In 2018 the “ Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches” decided to reorganize itself as the Evangelical Reformed Church Switzerland (EKS) at the beginning of 2020 and to issue a corresponding constitution.
In August 2019, the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches endorsed the marriage of same-sex couples and recommended that their member churches implement this.
organs
advice
The council is the executive body of the EKS and is led by the president. As a rule, the seven members (up to 2010 nine members) of the Council meet once a month for a two-day session in Bern.
Pastor Gottfried Locher headed the council in his third term as council president until his resignation on May 27, 2020. Since then, he has been led on an interim basis by the two vice-presidents.
On June 18, 2018, the Assembly of Representatives in Schaffhausen also elected for the 2019-2022 legislature:
- Pierre-Philippe Blaser (FR)
- Sabine Brändlin (BL), resigned in 2020
- Esther Gaillard (VD), Vice President
- Ulrich Knoepfel ( CEO )
- Ruth Pfister-Murbach (TG)
- Daniel Reuter (ZH), Vice President
- Previous presidents of the Council
- 1920–1921: Wilhelm Hadorn
- 1921–1930: Otto Herold
- 1930-1941: Eugène Choisy
- 1941–1954: Alphons Koechlin
- 1954–1962: Henri D'Espine
- 1962–1965: Alphonse Küenzi
- 1966-1970: Alexandre Lavanchy
- 1970–1978: Walter Sigrist
- 1978–1986: Jean-Pierre Jornod
- 1986–1998: Heinrich Rusterholz
- 1999–2010: Thomas Wipf
- 2011–2020: Gottfried W. Locher
Synod
The Synod (until 2019 Assembly of Deputies) is the parliament (legislature) of the EKS. It meets twice a year, in June as a guest of a member church and in November in Bern. The member churches are represented by around 80 synodals, the diaconal and women's conference each have two delegates with the right to speak and propose.
The synod elects the presidium and the members of the council, receives the annual report and decides on the budget and annual accounts. It can give the council orders by way of motions and postulates , request information via interpellations and express its position on current issues in resolutions .
Office
The office at Sulgenauweg 26 in Bern employs around 35 people in the following departments:
- Church relations
- Institute for Theology and Ethics
- Central Services
- communication
It has been led by Hella Hoppe since February 2016.
Ecumenical Relations
The EKS is a member of numerous ecumenical organizations, for example the World Council of Churches , the World Fellowship of Reformed Churches and the Fellowship of Evangelical Churches in Europe .
Member churches
literature
- Emil Marion: Protestant Switzerland. Swiss Evangelical Church Federation. Origin and history . Evangelischer Verlag, Zollikon 1958.
- Heinz Rüegger: Reformed Methodist Church Fellowship . In: Theologische Zeitschrift (Basel), vol. 53 (1997), pp. 240-254.
Web links
- Homepage of the SEK
- Rudolf Dellsperger : Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches (SEK). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Evangelical Reformed Church Switzerland in the archive database of the Swiss Federal Archives
Individual evidence
- ↑ Imprint. In: Evangelical Reformed Church Switzerland. Retrieved January 6, 2020 .
- ↑ RB 20: Declaration de Foi . He is currently working on a new version; the last interim report is from 2012, see the consultation process .
- ↑ The Federation of Churches will become a church in 2020. ref.ch, December 18, 2018.
- ↑ The Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches will become a church in 2020. In: www.kath.ch. December 18, 2018, accessed January 6, 2020 .
- ↑ Kirchenbund.de: Council of the Federation of Churches advocates opening up marriage to same-sex couples , August 2019
- ^ Communiqué of the SEK: Pastor Gottfried Locher confirmed in his office as Council President. 17th June 2018.
- ↑ Vanessa Buff: Gottfried Locher resigns. ref.ch, accessed on May 27, 2020.
- ^ Communiqué of the SEK: Pastor Pierre-Philippe Blaser elected to the council. 17th June 2018.
- ↑ «Unbridgeable differences»: Sabine Brändlin is leaving the EKS Council with immediate effect. on ref.ch
- ↑ Hella Hoppe on the SEK homepage.