Swiss Evangelical Alliance

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Swiss Evangelical Alliance
(SEA)
logo
founding 1875
Seat Zurich
motto "Better together"
main emphasis Evangelical Christians
Action space Switzerland
Chair Willfried Gasser
Managing directors Marc Jost and Andi Bachmann-Roth (General Secretaries)
Members 460 local regional and free church congregations, 160 Christian organizations
Website www.each.ch

The Swiss Evangelical Alliance (SEA) is an association of evangelical congregations made up of national and free churches , Christian organizations and individuals. The aims of the work are the promotion of unity and cooperation among Protestant Christians, Protestant public relations work and the support of congregations and Christians in preaching the Gospel. The work of the Evangelical Alliance in Switzerland is divided into two independent national language associations: the Swiss Evangelical Alliance (SEA) for the German-speaking Switzerland and the Réseau Evangélique Suisse (RES) for the French-speaking Switzerland . Together, the two associations form a national umbrella organization (SEA.RES).

organization

The SEA consists of around 640 local regional and free church congregations, over 230 Christian organizations and around 1,000 registered individuals. According to our own estimates, a total of around 250,000 people belong to their base.

The approximately 80 sections of the SEA are local associations of Christian communities. They are voting members of the Swiss Evangelical Alliance. The Swiss Evangelical Alliance is federally oriented, so that the individual sections can differ greatly in their degree of organization.

In German-speaking Switzerland there are 70 sections and 27 memberships of individual communities. In French-speaking Switzerland, 170 parishes and 65 organizations are affiliated to the Réseau Evangélique . The SEA is also affiliated with 14 working groups.

The organs of the SEA are the assembly of delegates, the board of directors and an auditor.

The assembly of delegates is composed of the delegates of the sections and the collective members, the board and individual members for political communities without a section or collective member.

The SEA Executive Board currently consists of eight people. Willfried Gasser has been president since 2008 . The general secretaries (managing directors) belong to the board in an advisory capacity. Since May 2012, these have been Marc Jost , EPP Grand Councilor in the canton of Bern and President of the aid association Interaction , and Andi Bachmann-Roth, former SEA youth representative.

The auditor annually reviews the SEA's annual accounts submitted by the Board of Directors. This control body is elected for one year and can consist of two natural persons who are not part of the board of directors, or it can be a recognized auditing company.

Youth Alliance

The area of youth work is referred to as the youth alliance within the SEA. Andi Bachmann-Roth has been the youth officer since October 2012.

Working method

Under the slogan "Better together", the SEA promotes cooperation between Protestant Christians. This is done with three focal points: Under the heading of “promoting community”, the coexistence of individual Christians from different churches and congregations and cooperation between Christian congregations and organizations is promoted. Second, the SEA wants to “change society” by taking a stand on current social issues. The aim is to “bring the advantages of biblical ethics closer to society.” Finally, the SEA implements and supports projects under the heading “Share Faith” that aim to convey the content of the Christian faith in an understandable way.

To this end, local alliances are formed and the exchange of information, also beyond the local sections, is promoted. The SEA provides advice on the development of missionary and social services within the framework of non-profit institutions.

The SEA sees itself as a voice of Protestant Christians in public. It takes a stand on current ethical issues in society and the economy and organizes regular prayer events.

Like the German Evangelical Alliance , the Swiss Evangelical Alliance has also been awarding a donation seal since 1990 , the seal of approval “SEA Code of Honor”. It is awarded to those Christian organizations that commit themselves to an open information policy about their activities and the use of donated funds as well as to the review of the accounts. A list of the organizations that have received the donation seal can be found online.

The Swiss Evangelical Alliance is part of the European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) and the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA).

history

The reason for the Swiss alliance movement was the diverse network of contacts among the awakened clergy around the Geneva Réveil , Christianity Society in Basel and Basel Mission , but also the Herrnhutern who are active in many parts of Switzerland. In addition, the contacts to the awakened circles in other countries played an important role, especially Germany, the Netherlands, England and Scotland, France and the USA, and a little later also Scandinavia.

At the suggestion of the Alliance Committee there, the fourth General Conference of the World Evangelical Alliance took place in Geneva on September 1, 1861 , with over 2,000 participants, around 600 of whom came from outside Switzerland. Most of them, however, did not belong to the circle of members or to the immediate environment of the alliance. The local population of Geneva contributed a lot with their atmospheric singing in the Romanesque cathedral de St. Pierre. At the conference were u. a. Topics discussed such as the Sunday sanctification, the situation of the workers, missions abroad, skepticism, rationalism or the Geneva Reformation . The Göttingen systematist Isaak August Dorner gave a lecture on the morning of September 10, 1861 on the law and limits of individualism in Protestant theology, which, in Gerhard Lindemann's judgment, was important for the Allianz's self-image. The event was referred to as the Ecumenical Conference of Geneva in the Alliance-related magazine Evangelical Christendom .

With their first meeting on October 28, 1875 in Lausanne with delegates from Geneva, Neuchâtel, Bern, Bernese Jura, Zurich, Basel and Lausanne, the national Swiss Evangelical Alliance emerged from the previously regional alliance groups. The Swiss branch of the Evangelical Alliance emerged from the French-speaking branch of the Alliance. On June 6, 1877, the SEA met in Lausanne for its first general assembly. The young organization made courageous strides in the contemporary judgment of the British Alliance.

Positions

Theological basis

The Christians represented by the Alliance profess the revelation of the triune God as found in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments and "the historical faith laid down in the Gospel". The Alliance emphasizes the following theological tenets as focal points:

  • The omnipotence and grace of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in creation, redemption and final judgment.
  • The divine inspiration of Scripture, its total reliability and supreme authority in all questions of faith and conduct of life.
  • The utter sinfulness and guilt of fallen man exposing him to God's wrath and condemnation.
  • The vicarious sacrifice of the incarnate Son of God as the only and all-sufficient basis for redemption from the guilt and power of sin and its eternal consequences.
  • The justification of the sinner by the grace of God alone on the basis of faith in Christ who was crucified and rose from the dead.
  • The work of the Holy Spirit , who brings about the conversion and rebirth of man, dwells in the believer and enables him to be sanctified.
  • The priesthood of all believers who make up the worldwide church, the body of which Christ is head, and who is bound by His command to preach the gospel in all the world.
  • The expectation of the personal, visible return of the Lord Jesus Christ in power and glory.

Opinions and controversies

The SEA takes a position on ideological, ethical, economic and political issues, for example on foreigners and asylum legislation,

on climate change, on the financial and economic crisis, on religious freedom , on homosexuality or on euthanasia.

The Swiss Evangelical Alliance advocated rejecting the referendum of the Swiss People's Party (SVP) against the construction of minarets at mosques (so-called " minaret initiative "). Nonetheless, she took a request from the organization of the Islamic Conference to the Swiss embassy in Saudi Arabia as an opportunity to point out restrictions on religious freedom in Islamic countries. The SEA advocates the voluntary abandonment of the construction of minarets and opposes calls to prayer over loudspeakers from minarets because this endangers “religious peace”.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The information in the introductory paragraph comes from the document Swiss Evangelical Alliance on the SEA website. There is also an outline of the history of the SEA (accessed on March 2, 2015).
  2. ↑ a b c Who is the SEA on the SEA website (accessed on March 2, 2015)
  3. ↑ a b Swiss Evangelical Alliance (PDF) on the SEA website. Presentation of the history of the SEA, p. 3 (accessed on March 2, 2015)
  4. ↑ Portrait on the RES website (accessed on March 2, 2015)
  5. ^ SEA: Statutes of the Swiss Evangelical Alliance SEA. As of May 10, 2014, p. 3
  6. ↑ a b Executive Board on the SEA website (accessed on March 2, 2015)
  7. ^ SEA: Statutes of the Swiss Evangelical Alliance SEA. As of May 10, 2014, p. 4
  8. ↑ Creative lobbying for Jesus in Swiss society on livenet.ch, February 24, 2012
  9. ^ SEA: Statutes of the Swiss Evangelical Alliance SEA. As of May 10, 2014, p. 5
  10. ^ Andi Bachmann-Roth; SEA youth officer at www.jugendallianz.ch (accessed on September 16, 2014)
  11. ↑ All information in this paragraph, including cited passages, from: What is the SEA doing on the SEA website (accessed on October 2, 2014).
  12. ↑ SEA Code of Honor at www.ehrenkodex.ch (accessed on 23 August 2014)
  13. ↑ http://www.ehrenkodex.ch/unterzeichner (accessed on March 24, 2012).
  14. ^ Gerhard Lindemann: For piety in freedom. The history of the Evangelical Alliance in the Age of Liberalism (1846-1879). Lit, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-8258-8920-3 , pp. 33f.
  15. ^ Gerhard Lindemann: For piety in freedom. The history of the Evangelical Alliance in the Age of Liberalism (1846-1879). Lit, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-8258-8920-3 , pp. 562-566.
  16. ^ Gerhard Lindemann: For piety in freedom. The history of the Evangelical Alliance in the Age of Liberalism (1846-1879). Lit, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-8258-8920-3 , pp. 930-931.
  17. ↑ : Faith base of the European Evangelical Alliance (EEA). (PDF) In: each.ch. Retrieved October 7, 2019 .
  18. ↑ SEA: The new Aliens Act and the Revision of the Asylum Act, No. 62 ( Memento of June 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  19. ↑ SEA: The Challenge of Climate Change, No. 72 ( Memento from June 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  20. ↑ SEA: Financial and Economic Crisis, No. 91 ( Memento from June 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  21. ↑ SEA: Religious Freedom and the Question of Tolerance ( Memento of March 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
    SEA: Religious Freedom in a Multicultural Society, No. 81 ( Memento of June 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  22. ↑ SEA: Homosexuality, No. 93 ( Memento of June 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  23. ^ SEA: Assisted suicide, No. 95 ( Memento from June 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  24. ↑ SEA press release: What if it were suddenly onion domes ...? ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
    SEA: Banning minarets does not help churches and Christians. ( Memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) SEA documentation, Opinion No. 92, March 2009
  25. ↑ Swiss television: Evangelical alliance defends minaret initiative , SF Tagesschau , January 18, 2008
  26. ↑ SEA: Muslims in Switzerland: Orientation and Decision Support for Christians.