Church district Steinfurt-Coesfeld-Borken
The Evangelical Church District Steinfurt-Coesfeld-Borken is one of 27 church districts within the Evangelical Church of Westphalia . The official seat is the city of Steinfurt . A total of 89,000 Protestant parishioners in 21 parishes belong to the church district.
Geographical location
The Evangelical Church District Steinfurt-Coesfeld-Borken is located in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in the district of Steinfurt, Coesfeld and Borken in the western Münsterland. In terms of area, the church district with 2578 km² is the largest of the 28 church districts of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia. The extensive area of the church district extends from Anholt and Werth in the southwest to Saerbeck in the northeast, from Gronau in the northwest to Dülmen in the southeast. In the north the church district borders on the neighboring church district Tecklenburg, in the east on the church district Münster, in the south on the church districts Recklinghausen and Gladbeck-Bottrop-Dorsten, in the south-west on the church district Wesel der Ev. Church in the Rhineland and in the west to the Netherlands, to which there is a 108 km long common border from Gronau to Anholt.
history
The beginnings
There are two areas in the church district with a long Protestant tradition. In 1544, Count Arnold II of Bentheim-Steinfurt introduced the Reformation in Burgsteinfurt and Gronau . The count's house was Lutheran at first, but reformed from 1575 onwards. The Burgsteinfurt High School, founded in 1588 , made the territory a stronghold of Calvinism.
The rule of Gemen became Protestant in 1558, the community of Werth (near Isselburg) in 1567. Bocholt , which was under the monastery of Münster , had appointed a Protestant majority since 1556 and in 1564 a Protestant city pastor. In 1569 the 'heretical' clergy were driven out again. In 1611 there was a riot among the guilds when attending the religious service in neighboring Werth was banned. However, there was always a Protestant congregation, even if it had no pastor of its own for a long time. The neighboring village of Suderwick was almost completely reformed, but the residents had to attend the service in Dinxperlo on the other side of the border with the Netherlands. In the other places of the bishopric of Münster, Protestant congregations could only form from the 19th century, in the countryside only after 1945.
Development and expansion
On April 1, 1953, the church district was founded under the name "Steinfurt". Most of the area had previously belonged to the Münster church district founded in 1872 ; Gronau and Steinfurt came from the Tecklenburg parish . Since January 1, 1972, the parish has been called "Steinfurt-Coesfeld" and since May 1, 1987 it has been called "Steinfurt-Coesfeld-Borken".
today
With the church districts of Münster and Tecklenburg, the Ev. Church formed by Westphalia.
structure
The synod of the parish is the representation of the parishes. The district synod elects the members of the district synod board, which leads the church district between the district synods. The chairman is the superintendent . The current superintendent is Joachim Anicker.
Churches and parishes
To Ev. The Steinfurt-Coesfeld-Borken parish has 20 parishes.
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Church district institutions
In the district church office in Burgsteinfurt (Bohlenstiege 34) is the seat of the superintendent and the district church administration. The Ev. Church district Steinfurt-Coesfeld-Borken maintains the following district church services:
- Church music
- School department
- Family and adult education
- Day care centers
- Men's work
- Public Relations
- Diaconal work
- Commissioned for spirituality and spiritual life
A Protestant youth education center, whose catchment area extends far beyond the boundaries of the church district, is located in Nordwalde .
Development of parish membership numbers
| year | Communities | Parishioners |
|---|---|---|
| 1953 | 15th | 60,000 |
| 1980 | 18th | 70,000 |
| 2008 | 21st | 89,000 |
Superintendent
| from | to | Surname |
|---|---|---|
| 1953 | 1964 | Friedrich Brune |
| 1964 | 1968 | Ernst Kochs |
| 1969 | 1978 | Walter Nolting |
| 1978 | 1988 | Walter Wahlbrink |
| 1988 | 1996 | Hans-Werner Pohl |
| 1996 | 2004 | Rolf Krebs |
| 2004 | ... | Joachim Anicker |
literature
- Hanspeter Dickel (Ed.): 50 Years of the Evangelical Church District Steinfurt-Coesfeld-Borken 1953–2003. Edited on behalf of the Evangelical Church District, Steinfurt-Burgsteinfurt 2003.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ See Hanspeter Dickel (Ed.): 50 Years of the Evangelical Church District Steinfurt-Coesfeld-Borken 1953–2003 , p. 24.