Denominational Institute

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The denominational institute of the Evangelical Federation in Bensheim is the largest ecumenical research center in the German-speaking Protestant area. It is an institution of the Evangelische Bundes eV , work organization of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), and has its seat in Bensheim (Hessische Bergstrasse).

Emergence

At the instigation of the later President of the Evangelical Federation and Church President of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau , Wolfgang Sucker , the denominational institute was founded in 1947 as a scientific workplace of the Evangelical Federation in Bensheim an der Bergstrasse in southern Hesse. In 1967 it was relocated from its founding location in the Metzendorf district to a modern office building in Weststadt. Since 2007 it has been back in the historic Villa Brunnengräber, which has been named Wolfgang Sucker House since 2005 after the founder of the institute .

Goal setting

The motto of the denominational institute is: “Know your neighbor as yourself”.

structure

The denominational institute deals with the range of topics of ecumenism and denominational studies , denominations and churches through various specialist lectures.

The acting head of the denominational institute is the academic advisor for orthodoxy Dagmar Heller

tasks

The institute is active in the field of denominational and ecumenical studies in a variety of ways . The main tasks of the institute are:

  • Research : The KI researches current developments in the various Christian denominations and promotes the exchange between academic theology and church practice.
  • Teaching : The KI offers advanced and advanced training courses and seminars on denominational topics for pastors, religious teachers, interested community members and students.
  • Advice : The KI advises church leaders and church decision-makers, regional church ecumenical officers, ecumenical committees, the Evangelical Federation as well as congregations and individuals.

The institute does this through:

  • Scientifically founded judgment from an evangelical perspective
  • Objective and differentiated observation of developments in the life, teaching and ethos of churches and religious communities
  • Long-term and sustainable perception of ecumenical discourses on a German, European and global level
  • Location of current topics in their historical genesis
  • Showing prognostic perspectives of future developments and challenges
  • Providing impetus for ecumenically relevant debates and processes

job

Regular events

  • European Conference on Denominational Studies
  • Technical discussions with experts
  • Young Orthodoxy Forum for Students and Young Scientists (together with the EKD)
  • Advanced training (basic and advanced courses on the individual denominational families and on ecumenism)

Regular publications

Library

The institute's extensive reference library with over 50,000 volumes and more than 200 specialist journals and press services is available to visitors free of charge by prior arrangement. It can be researched via the Southwest German Library Network (SWB).

carrier

The denominational institute is supported by the Evangelical Federation, the Evangelical Church in Germany and the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau ; supporting co-sponsors are the Evangelical Church in Baden and the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate .

Since 2007, the Confession and Reconciliation Foundation of the Evangelical Union has been directly supporting the Denominational Institute.

Committees and institute management

Board of Trustees

The board of trustees includes representatives of the cooperation partners involved in the institute. It is largely responsible for goal setting and management. The chairman of the board of trustees is regional bishop Ralf Meister , the deputy chairman is Gury Schneider-Ludorff , the president of the Evangelical Union.

Scientific Advisory Board

The scientific advisory board advises the denominational institute with regard to topics, publications and conferences and communicates the work of the institute to the universities and into the academic discussion. The chairman is Peter Gemeinhardt , professor for church history at the theological faculty of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen.

Directors

executive Director

  • Gerhard Beetz (1947–1984)
  • Walter Fleischmann-Bisten (1984-2006)
  • Alexander Gemeinhardt (2007-2013)
  • Ksenija Auksutat (2014-)
  • Rolf-Dieter Schiermeyer (since 2019)

Publications

The scientific book series Church - Confession - Religion (KKR) is published by V&R Unipress , published in cooperation with the Evangelical Central Office for Weltanschauung questions . Most recently published:

  • Patrick Wulfleff: The freedom of believers. Controversial tendencies of piety in the beginnings of Hasidism and Pietism (= KKR 58). V&R unipress, Göttingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-89971-932-1 .
  • Volker Spangenberg (ed.): Luther and the Reformation from a free church perspective (= KKR 59). V&R unipress, Göttingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-8471-0133-8 .
  • Jürg Bräker: Church, world, mission. Alexander Schmemann - An ecumenically relevant ecclesiology (= KKR 60). V&R unipress, Göttingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-8471-0113-0 .
  • Giovanni Maltese: wrong-way driver between transcendence and immanence. The concepts of experience in the Pentecostal-charismatic theologies of Terry L. Cross and Amos Yong in comparison (= KKR 61). V&R unipress, Göttingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-8471-0151-2 .
  • Karl Heinz Voigt : Ecumenism in Germany. International influences and network formation - beginnings 1848–1945 (= KKR 62). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-8471-0269-4 .
  • Christoph Klein : Church with others. Efforts to promote ecumenism in Romania (= KKR 63). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-8471-0262-5 .

The paperback series Bensheimer Hefte is published by the Göttingen publishing house Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht . This currently has 115 volumes. Recently published u. a .:

  • Walter Klaiber (ed.): Methodist churches. The churches of the present (= Bensheimer Hefte 111). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2010, ISBN 978-3-525-87202-4 .
  • Paul Metzger (Ed.): The Denomination of Jesus (= Bensheimer Hefte 112). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-525-87203-1 .
  • Andriy Mykhaleyko: The Eastern Catholic Churches. The Churches of the Present 3 (= Bensheimer Hefte 113). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-525-87240-6 .
  • Johannes Demandt (Ed.): Free Evangelical Congregations. History, dissemination and teaching of an evangelical free church, with 17 short international portraits (= Bensheimer Hefte 114). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-525-87242-0 .
  • Lothar Weiß (Ed.): Russian-German Migration and Protestant Churches (= Bensheimer Hefte 115). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-525-87241-3 .

Individual work aids deal with special topics, e.g. B .:

partner

Web links

Coordinates: 49 ° 41 ′ 22.8 "  N , 8 ° 37 ′ 28.1"  E