Heinz Renkewitz

Heinz Renkewitz (born October 4, 1902 in Strasbourg , Alsace ; † December 28, 1974 in Holzschlag ; born Heinrich Gottfried Renkewitz ) was a German Protestant theologian of the Brothers Unity . DD stands for Divinitatis Doctor .

Life

Heinz Renkewitz was born in Strasbourg (Alsace) as the second son of Alfred and Pauline (née Binder) Renkewitz. From 1908 to 1911 he attended the boys' school in Gnadenberg in Silesia and from 1911 to 1912 the middle school and grammar school in Bunzlau . From 1912 to 1914 he attended the local school in Christiansfeld until Easter , then the boys' institution in Niesky and from Easter 1916 the pedagogy in Niesky before he went to the grammar school in Hadersleben in 1918 . From June 1920 he visited the Katedralskole (German abbey) in Hadersleben, where he passed his school leaving examination at Easter 1921.

From Easter 1921 until June 30, 1924 he was in the theological seminary in Herrnhut . In the winter semester of 1924/25 he studied at the University of Göttingen . From the summer semester of 1925 he studied at the University of Leipzig in preparation for a lectureship in church history up to the winter semester of 1926/27. On March 15, 1927, he took up his post as a brotherhood nurse in Niesky. He passed his second theological exam on November 17th of the same year.

In June 1928 he was appointed lecturer in church and brother history at the Theological Seminary in Herrnhut , where he was still working as a caretaker. On June 24, 1928 Heinz Renkewitz was in Niesky to Deacon ordained and entered on October 17, his office in Herrnhut.

On March 26, 1933, he married Erika Nonning in Ratzeburg / Lauenburg with whom he had five children. In Leipzig he successfully passed his licentiate examination on July 5, 1935 . He became the script administrator of the "Herrnhut" on April 1st, 1937. On May 29th of the same year he was transferred from the Synod of the European-Continental Province to the Unity Directorate in the Department of Local Commons, Foreigners, Diaspora , especially the brotherly trade, the brotherly youth and the common music chosen.

On September 1st of the same year he took up his post in the German University Directorate (DUD). He was drafted into the army from August 1, 1940 to February 24, 1942, after which he returned to his post. After the death of Br. Rüffer in August 1943 he also became deputy preacher of the Berlin parishes in Berlin's Friedrichstadt and Neukölln . On May 16, 1944 he was drafted again into the army as a war pastor.

After his return from the war in August 1945 he became pastor in Bad Boll and at the same time was active as a member of DUD in the western occupation area . In Bad Boll he was ordained a presbyter on October 20, 1945 . In 1948 he was elected to the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches ( ÖKR ). He became the first chairman of the management in 1949 in Bad Boll.

In 1954 he resigned from the managing authority of the DBU ( German Brothers Unity ) and received a special mandate from the Synod to focus on scientific work in the field of Zinzendorf research, the history of the brothers, the promotion of young students and the representation in the ecumenical movement to devote. In the same year the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau elected him as theological director of studies at their Evangelical Academy in Arnoldshain . Initially, this applied for a year; he was given leave of absence from the community service. He took office in Arnoldshain on October 1, 1954. On October 1, 1955, he entered the service of the Hessian regional church.

From August 13 to September 10, 1957, he took part in the general synod of the Brethren University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania , where he gave guest lectures in the spring of 1962. In 1961 he took part in the general assembly of the World Council of Churches in New Delhi and became head of the working group for Zinzendorf research in the Commission for Research on Pietism . He was a member of the Christian Peace Conference and participant of the First All-Christian Peace Assembly , which took place in Prague in 1961 .

In November of 1967 he moved with his family to felling and stood on 30 June 1968 in retirement . At the age of 72, Heinz Renkewitz died of a heart attack in Holzschlag on December 28, 1974.

Memberships

Heinz Renkewitz was a member of the following societies:

• Settlement society of the EKiD relief organization
• Central Committee of the World Council
• Ecumenical Committee Stuttgart
• Faith and Order Commission
• German Ecumenical Study Committee
• Christian Peace Conference (CFK)

languages

Heinz Renkewitz spoke the following languages ​​fluently:

1. German
2. Danish
3. English
4. French
5. Greek
6. Hebrew

Publications

• Alliance and Ecumenism. Anker-Verlag, 1956.
• Hochmann von Hochau. Luther Verlag, 1969.
• Hochmann von Hochenau. Source studies on the history of Pietism. 1969, ISBN 3-7858-0015-0 .
• From the cedars of Lebanon to the Dead Sea. Appel, 1954.
• The fraternity, its mission and its form. JF Steinkopf Publishing House , 1949.
• Zinzendorf. 2nd edition Herrnhut 1939.
• Was Zinzendorf a spiritualist?
• With Ernst Benz : Zinzendorf memorial book. Evangelical publishing house, 1951.
• Zinzendorf's word to us today. Appel, 1952.
• In conversation with Zinzendorf's theology. Lectures from the estate, 4th booklet. 1981, ISBN 3-8048-4208-9 .
• The solutions. Witting 1953.
• The solutions. Origin and history of a devotional book. ISBN 978-3-8048-4069-0 .
• The Brethren .
• The brothers unity. Evangelisches Verlagswerk, 1967.
• The diaconal idea in the age of pietism .
• The churches on the way to unity. Gütersloher publishing house G. Mohn, 1964.
• Employees of the time change. ( The new furrow )

swell

• Resume by Heinz Renkewitz from the Unitätsarchiv , servant Book III, p 100/98.
• Alber Köhler (Ed.): European Profile II Federal Republic of Germany. Milan, December 1954.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ In the parlance of the Brethren, the term local congregation denotes a place that is founded and / or exclusively inhabited by its members or was originally. Cf. Hedwig Richter: Pietism in Socialism: The Moravian Brotherhood in the GDR. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-525-37007-0 , p. 13.