District of Osnabrück
The Sprengel Osnabrück (until 1957: Sprengel Osnabrück-Diepholz ) is one of six - not independent - sub-districts of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover . The area corresponds roughly to that of the districts of Diepholz , Nienburg (partially), Osnabrück and the independent city of Osnabrück .
Breakdown
Since the structural reform by the regional synod from July 1, 2007, the district of Osnabrück has been divided into the church districts of Bramsche , Melle-Georgsmarienhütte (created in 2013 by merging the two church districts of Melle and Georgsmarienhütte), Grafschaft Diepholz , Osnabrück and - new - the former district of Calenberg -Hoya belonging church district Syke-Hoya . The Emsland-Bentheim parish was spun off to form the Ostfriesland-Ems district .
The five church districts are divided into 114 parishes, which are looked after by 166 pastors. Around one million people live in the Sprengel area, of whom 304,000 belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Spatial location within the Evangelical Churches in Northern Germany
The district of Osnabrück is in the west of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover . It borders in the south on the area of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia , in the west on the district of Ostfriesland-Ems and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg , in the north on the Bremen Evangelical Church , and in the east on the districts of Hanover and Stade .
history
The Bishopric of Osnabrück came in the early 16th century under the influence of Reformation ideas and aspirations. In the city of Osnabrück, the two old parish churches became Lutheran and the two collegiate churches Catholic around 1530. However, the events and developments surrounding the Anabaptist Empire of Münster were viewed with concern , in which very radical reforms were initially implemented and which in 1534 - after the aggravation of the situation in the city of Münster - was suppressed by its opponents. In 1540, the City Council of Osnabrück, with the consent of Bishop Franz von Waldeck, took over the church. The reformer of Osnabrück was Hermann Bonnus (1504–1548), who in 1543 wrote the Reformation church order in the Osnabrück monastery.
After the Augsburg religious peace in 1555, the Osnabrück bishopric was the only imperial estate that did not force its residents to commit to the ruler's denomination ("cuius regio, eius religio"). The church in one village was Catholic and that of the other Lutheran. Not without self-irony, the people of Osnabrück still say of themselves today that every paving stone in their city is either Lutheran or Catholic. Probably unique in the history of the church is that from 1652 to 1803 there was always a Lutheran and a Catholic bishop alternating on the episcopal chair in Osnabrück.
State superintendent
management
The Sprengels are managed by the Landessuperintendentur in Osnabrück, Bismarckstraße 8. From here, episcopal tasks are performed, which are delegated by the Bishop's Office in Hanover for reasons of distance alone. Office holders of the state superintendent are therefore often called "regional bishops". Their preaching church is the St. Mary's Church in Osnabrück.
The incumbents of the six Hanoverian state superintendencies together with the regional bishop or the regional bishop form the bishop's council of the regional church.
State superintendent
Previous incumbents were:
- 1936–1954: Heinrich Brandt
- 1954–1956: Adolf Wischmann
- 1956–1970: Kurt Degener
- 1970–1982: Kurt Schmidt-Clausen
- 1982–1995: Gottfried Sprondel
- 1995–1997: Dieter Zinßer
- 1998–2007: Doris Janssen-Reschke
- 2007–2014: Burghard Krause
- since February 2015: Birgit Klostermeier
Sprengelbeirat
The regional superintendent is supported by the Sprengelbeirat, whose members come from all church districts of the Sprengel.
Ephor Conference
The leading clergy of the five church districts, the superintendents , form the Ephorenkonferenz des Sprengels. One of these office holders is also the deputy of the state superintendent.
Explosion services and facilities
The district of Osnabrück offers the communities and community members in its area a wide range of services:
- Office for building and art maintenance
-
House of Church Services (Sprengelbüro) with:
- Women's work ,
- Youth service ,
- Church service in the country ,
- Church service in the world of work ,
- Men's work,
- Church service in leisure, relaxation and tourism
- Evangelical adult education in the Osnabrück region
- Church service and church music
- Specialist advice for day care centers
- Church education
- Lecturers and predicants
- Emergency counseling
- Pastoral Psychological Service
- Trombone work
- Student community
Sprengel members in the regional synod
The highest parliamentary body of the Hanoverian regional church, the regional synod , has the following members from the district of Osnabrück (* = ordained members, ** = non-ordained church workers):
- Friederike duration
- Albert Gerling-Jacobi *
- Imke Guse
- Fritz Hasselhorn (appointed)
- Hildegard Holtorf
- Knut Laemmerhirt
- Sabine Baroness von Richthofen
- Jörg-Michael Schröder *
- Rita Steinbreder **
- Martin Steinke *