Evangelical Community (Methodism)

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The Evangelical Community (EG) (English Evangelical Association ), also called Albrechtsbrüder after its founder , was a Methodist church founded by Jakob Albrecht in 1803 among German emigrants in the United States .

Both in theology and in the form of organization it hardly differed from methodism in general, but in contrast to its surroundings it retained the German language for a very long time. Church regulations and hymn book were published in German. It was not until 1844 that the church ordinance appeared in English, and at the same time (mostly) English-speaking congregations developed. In 1875 the still numerous German-speaking communities were brought together in three separate annual conferences. The American German-language publication The Christian Ambassador did not cease to appear until 1947 because the number of subscribers had become too small.

In the second half of the 19th century - mainly by returnees - churches of the Evangelical Community were founded in the German-speaking area and in Eastern Europe.

In 1945 the Evangelical Community united with the sister church United Brothers in Christ to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church . In the German-speaking countries, the new name did not catch on , the name Evangelical Community was continued. The Evangelical Community was under the supervision of a US bishop until it was united with the Methodist Church.

Although the Evangelical Community was assigned to the Methodist denomination, especially in the middle of the 20th century, neither Methodist theology nor the history of the Methodist church family was given particular attention in the Reutlinger seminary of the EG. For the dogmatist at the seminary, Karl Steckel, for example, the preparation for the church union with the Methodists meant a cut in thinking and work.

Like the Methodist Episcopal Church, the EC aligned itself heavily with its mother churches in the United States. In Germany, there has been close cooperation since 1926 within the framework of the Association of Evangelical Free Churches (VEF), to which other free churches and communities also belonged. In addition, from 1948 there was cooperation in the Working Group of Christian Churches (ACK) at various levels. A bilateral cooperation took place since 1951 in the jointly supported tent mission . Particularly noteworthy is the tear-off calendar published jointly with the Baptists since 1950 , which was widely used in the churches. He offered believers a brief meditative reading, a Bible verse, and a hymn reference for each day.

1968 formed the Evangelical United Brethren Church along with the Methodist Episcopal Church , the Methodist Church , english The United Methodist Church and went on in this.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Karl Heinz Voigt:  STECKEL, Karl Gottlob. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 27, Bautz, Nordhausen 2007, ISBN 978-3-88309-393-2 , Sp. 1372-1381.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  2. ^ Hermann Sticher : The Union of the Evangelical Community and the Methodist Church; The Church Association in the Federal Republic of Germany and in the German Democratic Republic. In: Karl Steckel: History of the Evangelical Methodist Church , 1982, ISBN 3-7675-7496-9 , p. 213f

literature

  • Karl Steckel: History of the Evangelical Methodist Church. Way, nature and mission of Methodism with special consideration of the German-speaking countries of Europe . Christliches Verlagshaus, Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-7675-7496-9 , pp. 59-84.
  • Ulrike Schuler: The Evangelical Community. Missionary awakenings in socio-political upheavals . Media work of the Evangelical Methodist Church, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-89725-002-0 ( Emk Studies 1), (At the same time: Wuppertal, Univ., Diss., 1997).
  • Hymnal for the Evangelical Community. Fifth edition. Christian publishing house, Stuttgart 1932.