Church of the Christians Ecclesia

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Logo Ecclesia communities
Church Community of Christians, current community center in Rödinghausen - Schwenningdorf

The Christian community Ecclesia (also: Ecclesia churches for short ) is an evangelical charismatic free church in Germany. Your name derives from Ecclesia ( ancient Greek εκκλησία ekklēsía , German , the called-out ones ' , Latin ecclesia ) and is since New Testament times for the Christian community and for the Christian Church (see. Ecclesiology ).

history

The development of the Ecclesia Christian community began at the end of the Second World War . First of all, house groups were formed in and around Solingen - Ohlig under the direction of Hermann Zaiss , an entrepreneur from Untertürkheim who worked with the Basel Mission in Ghana before the First World War . His preaching of the gospel increasingly attracted people because it was felt to be true to life. The audience continued to grow as the meetings were said to have miraculous healings . When Zaiss was killed in a car accident in 1958, there were over 300 Ecclesia meetings in Germany and neighboring countries. Today there are meetings of the Ecclesia in around 70 locations, 48 ​​of which are independent congregations. The Free Church has about 4000 members.

Teaching

The teaching of the Ecclesia is to be located in the evangelical- charismatic camp. The Bible is seen as the foundation of faith and life. The so-called baptism of believers is practiced, which requires a personal decision to follow Jesus Christ . Important beliefs are:

  • the redemption of man through the vicarious death of Jesus on the cross
  • the worldwide church as the body of Jesus
  • the equipping of the individual through the gifts of the Holy Spirit
  • the effectiveness of prayer for the sick
  • the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day and the resurrection of believers
  • the parousia (second coming of Jesus)

Structures

The leadership of the local church is in the hands of elders. One of these is a primus inter pares (first among equals) church leader. While the church used to be largely done by lay volunteers , most churches today have employed pastors . The headquarters of the community association is Solingen-Ohligs. The form of organization is the registered association .

Since 2000, around 40 congregations have gradually become part of the Bund Freikirchlicher Pfingstgemeinden KdöR (BFP). Since September 2008 the whole association has belonged to the BFP as the “Ecclesia (ECC)” region and is thus part of the Pentecostal movement . Many congregations also work with the German Evangelical Alliance .

The Ecclesia advertises heavily to young people, including with youth groups and youth camps. The youth work branch is divided into the regions Ecclesia-Jugend South, West and North. A cooperation with other free churches, churches as well as youth welfare offices and the youth ring takes place in many places. A supraregional branch of the Ecclesia is the Adventure Center, a center for children and youth work in Neunkirchen-Seelscheid near Cologne , where a large number of seminars and leisure time takes place.

Missionaries of the Ecclesia abroad work within the charity Love in Action , especially in Cameroon (for example, several health centers and training centers are operated here together with the United Missionary Friends (VMF)), as well as in Italy , Albania , Guinea and the Philippines .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kurt Hutten: seers, brooders, enthusiasts. 14th Edition, 1989, pp. 374-376. ISBN 978-3579033556 (1997)
  2. ↑ Jürgen Tibusek: One belief, many churches. Brunnen-Verlag Gießen, 1994, pp. 390-393.
  3. ↑ Materialdienst the EZW 1973/22, pp 345-348.
  4. ↑ ecclesia-gemeinden.de ( Memento of the original dated February 2, 2014 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. As of January 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ecclesia-gemeinden.de
  5. ↑ remid.de
  6. ↑ Helmut Burkhardt, Erich Geldbach, Kurt Heimbucher: Evangelical Community Lexicon . R. Brockhaus Verlag, Wuppertal, special edition 1986, p. 197.
  7. ↑ bfp.de , associations of BFP
  8. ↑ vef.de

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