Church district

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A church district is in some Protestant churches an amalgamation of several neighboring parishes .

In other churches the comparable level in the administrative hierarchy is called parish , deanery , provost , ephorie, superintendent or class (only in the Lippe regional church ). The term “ Kreisgemeinde ” can also be found in older literature .

The church district is usually a legally competent church body under public law , but different terms are defined in Württemberg, for example: the dean's office is the dean's supervisory district (via his pastors or parish officers belonging to the dean's office) and the church district is the public-law corporation. In most cases, pastoral and administrative areas are congruent, but not, for example, in the church district of Stuttgart , which from a legal perspective is a church district consisting of four deaneries.

In the regional churches of Baden , Bavaria and Mecklenburg the parish, also known as the prelature , is the next higher level; it extends over several deaneries or church districts. Church districts in this sense are not legally competent, but only designate a jurisdiction. It is the same in the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau . Here, the number of deaneries comprehensive level as provost called.

The Evangelical Church in Central Germany initially divides the church districts into parish areas to which one or more parishes belong.

The leading clergyman of the church district is the district pastor or district high pastor or dean , provost , ephorus or superintendent . The administrative work of a church district takes place in the church district office (KKA), also known as the district church office, district church office, church office, rent office or church administration office .

A church district can be responsible for the local youth pastoral office or district youth service as well as various diaconal institutions. In many regional churches there are parish church offices. These are pastors' posts that perform supra-community tasks and are therefore not assigned to a community but are located at the church district level, for example pastoral posts for religious instruction , hospital pastoral care , telephone pastoral care or work with the disabled.

Literature and web links

  • Helmut Geck (ed.): Church districts - district synods - superintendents. Recklinghausen Forum for the History of Church Districts, 1. LIT-Verlag, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-8258-7565-2 .
  • Helmut Geck (ed.): The church district in the presbyterial-synodal order. Recklinghausen Forum for the History of Church Districts, 3rd LIT-Verlag, Münster 2008, ISBN 978-3-8258-1524-0 .
  • Hans-Peter Hübner: Church circles. In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria. October 5, 2006 .;