Göttingen sermons on the Internet
The Göttingen Sermons on the Internet (GPI) are a free internet service that provides elaborated sermons for every Sunday in the Protestant church year , all other church festivals and services, as well as for special occasions.
concept
The “Göttingen Sermons on the Internet” follow the tradition of Ernst Lange's sermon theory . In addition, the founders have made it their concern that Internet use in the methods of dissemination of sermons in which Martin Luther the letterpress heranzog to spread his Bible interpretations.
The invitation to cooperate comes from the editor Ulrich Nembach , who is responsible for the German-speaking preachers, and the responsible editors Gottfried Brakemeier ( Brazil / sermons in Portuguese), Ekkehard Heise ( Germany / sermons in Spanish), Eberhard Harbsmeier ( Denmark / Sermons in Danish), Samuel Zumwalt ( USA / Sermons in English). As a body they also decide on the inclusion in the preacher list of those authors who have applied themselves.
The authors are parish priests, employees of various church institutions (including the former bishop Margot Käßmann ) and university lecturers in theology (including Oswald Bayer , Eberhard Busch , Wilfried Härle , Wolfgang Huber , Johannes Lähnemann , Joachim Ringleben and Reinhard Schmidt-Rost ).
The editors and staff see their offer as a "contribution to maintaining the preaching culture in our society". Particular attention is paid to the “Göttingen Sermons” in the area of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). Some regional churches expressly refer to them on their websites.
history
The “Göttingen Sermons on the Internet” have appeared in uninterrupted succession since Reformation Day 1997. In the first few years only German-speaking, they have consistently taken the ecumenical-global idea into account since 2002 through the multilingual offer. Since 2017 the “Göttingen Sermons on the Internet” by Thomas Schlag have been published by the Theological Faculty of the University of Zurich .
distribution
The Göttingen online sermons are accessed from over 120 countries around the world. They offer sermons in five languages. The site is visited by an average of 1850 users every day. Before public holidays such as Easter or Christmas, the number increases to well over 4000 every day. According to the operator, the number of individual hits on the website is around 500,000 per month. The authors are native speakers. The sermons are usually used as an impetus and source of information for the respective independent preaching work - across national and language borders. They are also helpful for preachers and other worshipers.
literature
- Heinz Fischer: Practical divine service: working aids for lecturers and service staff . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2000, pp. 38-39.
- Ulrich Nembach: Internet homiletics , a fascinating new discipline: illustrated using the example of the Göttingen sermons on the Internet . In: Evangelische Theologie 66 (2006), 394–399.
- Ulrich Nembach (Ed.): Internet sermons: On the language of sermons in the globalized world (= research on practical theology 19). Lang, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 2013, ISBN 978-3-631-64846-9 .
Web links
Göttingen sermons on the Internet