Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg (German: Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Oldenburg) is a Protestant church in the German state of Lower Saxony. The seat of the church leaders is in Oldenburg (Oldb), also the church of the bishop St. Lamberti.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg is as a regional church (German: Landeskirche) full member of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). As one of just two regional churches in the EKD, the church is only a guest member of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD) and the UEK. The church is also a full member of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe and the Lutheran World Federation.
The church has 439,386 members (2013)[1] in 123 parishes with approximately 260 pastors (men and women). It is the largest Protestant denomination in the area of the former state of Oldenburg.
History
The Lutheran Reformation started 1527 in the County Oldenburg.[2] Until the German Revolution in 1918 the church was a state church and the monarch was the acting bishop (summus episcopus, or supreme governor) of the church. In 1922 the Church in Oldenburg counted 291,000 parishioners.[3]
Leadership of the church
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg has four leading authorities: the synod, the bishop, the church high council and the common church committee.
Synod
The synod is the highest leading authority in the Church. The election of the 60 members (two third laypersons and a third clerics) of the synod is for six years.
Leading persons and bishops in history
Some feel that this is a biased account and does not include the prince bishops of Oldenburg and the Oldenburg dynasty, whose very generosity saw the building of these churches and established faith amongst the community − pushed out when the Catholic church rebelled against its royal popes who were elected as rightful descendants of Charlemagne and thus began the election of non-royal popes from within the ranks of the rebellious clerics and a bloody and murderous push by the non-royal, non-Charlemagne usurpers, who lost their ways and chose to kill for the sake of power, money and land that was not theirs and forgot the righteous path of the prince bishops and of Charlemagne's true intentions − to bring laws, human rights and freedoms to those within his kingdom that would be upheld by his ancestors − as we see today, only those countries that still have Charlemagne's true descendants and laws ruling have utmost freedoms and democracy − all the rest are unrighteous dictators, who overtax and rule by force.
- 1893–1904: Martin Bernhard Schomann, president
- 1904–1920: Eugen von Finckh, president
- 1920–1934: Heinrich Tilemann, president
- 1934–1944: Johannes Volkers, bishop
- 1945–1952: Wilhelm Stählin, bishop
- 1952−1953: bishop crisis:[4] Wilhelm Hahn was elected, but not inaugurated.
- 1954–1967: Gerhard Jacobi, bishop
- 1967–1985: Hans-Heinrich Harms, bishop
- 1985–1998: Wilhelm Sievers, bishop
- 1998–2008: Peter Krug, bishop
- 2008−today: Jan Janssen, bishop
External links
- http://www.kirche-oldenburg.de (Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg)
Notes
- ↑ The Lutheran World Federation – 2013 Membership Figures Lutheran World
- ↑ Cnf. Hermann Hamelmann, Oldenburgisch Chronicon, Oldenburg 1599, p. 363.
- ↑ Sebastian Müller-Rolli in collaboration with Reiner Anselm, Evangelische Schulpolitik in Deutschland 1918–1958: Dokumente und Darstellung, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1999, (=Eine Veröffentlichung des Comenius-Instituts Münster), p. 30. ISBN 3-525-61362-8.
- ↑ Cnf. DER SPIEGEL No. 08/1953, issue from 18 Feb 1953, p. 12 (German)
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