Gospel and Church

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Evangelium und Kirche (EuK) is an evangelical, ecclesiastical political association in Württemberg, which is involved on many levels (parish, district, synod). It stands for election with its candidates as one of the four discussion groups of the Württemberg regional church in the church elections and is therefore often referred to as a kind of "church party".

history

1934 to 1945

EuK was founded in 1934 as an Evangelical Confessional Community in Württemberg by Pastor Theodor Dipper and stood in opposition to National Socialism in the church. One turned z. B. against the Aryan paragraph , which was accepted by the majority of the supporters of the German Christians . Many who were active in the Confessing Church were close to EuK or belonged to the group.

Many members got involved despite the threat of reprisals. So in 1936 pastor sentenced in Kirchheim / Teck Otto Mörike the name Hitler as "High Priest before God's throne" by Goebbels and was then beaten, sentenced to probation and gag occupied. Other examples, such as Pastor Julius von Jahn's sermon against the Reichskristallnacht on the occasion of the day of penance and prayer in 1938, ended similarly.

The then chairman Theodor Dipper was repeatedly banned from speaking and imprisoned, but he did not give up his resistance. He belonged with his wife Hedwig, Gertrud and Otto Mörike and other “confessional priests” to the “Brüderring”, who from 1943 onwards, camouflaged the alleged “bomb refugees”, who were actually Jewish refugees, in their private homes.

Developments since 1945

After 1945, the democratic reorganization of church and state had to be accompanied constructively and critically. In 1966 the synodal discussion group was reconstituted under the name Gospel and Church . In 1970, the denominational community was consequently also renamed Gospel and Church . In the 1980s and 1990s, the discussion group often worked closely with the Open Church Association in Württemberg. The group's publication organ appears two to three times a year with “Informations” with contributions on theological topics and the work in the Synod.

The state chairmen

Years Chairman
1933-1934 Wolfgang Metzger (speaker), pastor, later prelate
1934 Gotthilf Weber (spokesman), later dean
1934-1939 Theodor Dipper, pastor, later dean
1939-1945 Paul Schmidt, pastor
1945–1969 Theodor Dipper, dean
1969-1974 Peter Spambalg, Dean
1974-1988 Gerhard Müller, Dean
1978-1990 Hans Lachenmann , councilor
1990-1999 Walter Blaich, Dean
1999-2014 Dr. Richard Mössinger, pastor
since 2014 Ernst-Wilhelm Gohl, Dean

Positions

EuK represents the center of church politics. Many members could also belong to other discussion groups, but want “to have the whole church in view”. The main topics are

  • Theological judgment on church and church political issues
  • the conversation between Christians of different backgrounds ( Pietists , Liberals etc.)
  • the "search for balanced solutions instead of unilateral decisions"
  • education
  • and diakonia .

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