Evangelical Church in the Rhineland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Evangelical Church in the Rhineland is a united Protestant church in parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Hesse (Wetzlar). This is actually the area covered by the former Rhine Province until 1920. It is the most important Protestant denomination in this area. The seat of the church is in Düsseldorf.

It is a full member of the Evangelical Church in Germany EKD, and is a united Church. The current leader of the church is Nikolaus Schneider. The Evangelical Church in the Rhineland is one of 23 Lutheran, united and reformed churches of the EKD. As of January 2006, the church has around 2,936,700 members in 809 parishes.

The Evangelical Church in the Rhineland is a member of the UEK. In Bonn the church has its own evangelical academy in Bonn-Bad Godesberg.

Contents

[edit] Some theological statements

The theological teaching goes back on Martin Luther. The Ordination of women is allowed, the blessing of same-sex unions has been allowed by the synod and depends on the local church administration.

[edit] Elected Leader

The election of the synod is for four years. The elected leader (=Präses) of the "Landessynode" is also leader of the church.

[edit] Leading persons in history

The leading organ of the church is the synod, which meats each year in January since 1975 in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler (before 1975 in Bad Godesberg).

Leading person is the "Präses", which is elected from the synod.

  • 1835 - 1846: Franz Friedrich Gräber
  • 1847 - 1851: Georg August Ludwig Schmidtborn
  • 1853 - 1860: Johann Heinrich Wiesmann
  • 1862 - 1864: Johann Karl Friedrich Maaß
  • 1865 - 1877: Friedrich Nieden
  • 1877 - 1888: Stephan Friedrich Evertsbusch
  • 1890 - 1893: Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand Kirschstein
  • 1893 - 1898: Valentin Umbeck
  • 1899 - 1905: Friedrich Wilhelm Schürmann
  • 1908 - 1912: Albert Hackenberg
  • 1914 - 1917: Georg Hafner
  • 1919 - 1932: Friedrich Walter Paul Wolff
  • 1932 - 1934: Friedrich Schäfer
  • 1934 - 1935: Paul Humburg
  • 1935 - 1948: Friedrich Horn
  • 1948 - 1957: Heinrich Karl Ewald Held
  • 1958 - 1971: Joachim Wilhelm Beckmann
  • 1971 - 1981: Karl Immer
  • 1981 - 1989: Gerhard Brandt
  • 1989 - 1996: Peter Beier
  • 1996 - 1997: Hans Ulrich Stephan, Oberkirchenrat und amtierender Präses
  • 1997 - 2003: Manfred Kock
  • 2003 - today: Nikolaus Schneider


[edit] Books

  • Evangelisches Gesang-Buch
  • Evangelisches Gesangbuch of Rhineland and Westfalia, Dortmund 1883
  • Evangelisches Gesangbuch of Rhineland and Westfalia, Dortmund 1929
  • Evangelisches Kirchengesangbuch, Edition of churches in Rhineland, Westfalia and Lippe, Bielefeld, 1969


[edit] External links

Languages