Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hungary
Classification Protestant
Orientation Lutheran
Polity Episcopal
Geographical areas Hungary
Origin 16th century
Congregations 500
Members 213,125

The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary (in Hungarian Magyarországi Evangélikus Egyház) is a Protestant Lutheran denomination in Hungary. In 2009, there were 213,125 baptized members.[1] The church has three bishops in nearly 300 parishes using 500 places of worship in Hungary.

Lutheranism came early in the Hungarian realms, but was repressed by the Roman Catholic Habsburgs dynasty. During the "Mourning Decade" (1671-1681) the Hungarian Lutherans, (along with the Reformed Church in Hungary) was severely persecuted. There was a renewal with Pietism and the Deed of Tolerance issued by the emperor Joseph II in 1781 granted religious freedom and the Protestant churches were fully recognized after the restoration of the sovereignty of Hungary in 1867.

The church is member of the World Council of Churches, the Conference of European Churches, Ecumenical Council of Churches in Hungary, the Lutheran World Federation, and the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe.

References

  1. ^ LWF Statistics 2009

External links

Religions in Hungary
Reformed Church · Roman Catholic Church · Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary · Hungarian Greek Catholic Church · Faith Church · Baptist Union · Judaism · Islam · Hinduism