Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony explained
| Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony |
| Native Name: | Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Sachsens |
| Type: | Landeskirche, member of the Protestant Church in Germany |
| Main Classification: | Protestant |
| Leader Title: | Landesbischof |
| Leader Name: | Hans-Peter Vollbach |
| Area: | 14,900 km2 in Saxony |
| Headquarters: | Dresden |
| Congregations: | 319 |
| Members: | 610,503
17.4% of total population (2020) |
| Website: | https://www.evlks.de/ |
The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony is one of 20 member Churches of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD), covering most of the state of Saxony. Its headquarters are in Dresden, and the seat of the bishop (styled Bishop of Saxony)[1] is at Meissen Cathedral. Prior to the propagation of state atheism in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), it was the largest Evangelical Lutheran church in Germany.[2]
The church has 610,503 parishioners in 319 parishes (as of December 31, 2022).[3]
History
Historically, the church's organisation became an example for other Protestant churches to be founded throughout Europe, the so-called "Saxon model" of a church as introduced by Martin Luther. It was closely tied to the state, whereby the Elector of Saxony protected the evangelical faith in his jurisdiction. Since the Reformation, the Lutheran orthodoxy (the "purest form" of Lutheranism) prevailed among the general population in Saxony and was secured first by its Ernestine and later Albertine Wettin rulers. Beginning in the 17th century, Pietism also gained a significant following, especially among the working class.
In 2019, Carsten Rentzing, bishop of the church since 2015, resigned his position after controversy arose about his connections to far-right parties and groups.[4]
Bishops
- 1922–1933: Ludwig Heinrich Ihmels
- 1933–1945: Friedrich Otto Coch
- 1945–1947: Franz Lau
- 1947–1953: Hugo Hahn
- 1953–1971: Gottfried Noth
- 1971–1994: Johannes Hempel
- 1994–2004: Volker Kreß
- 2004–2015: Jochen Bohl
- 2015–2019: Carsten Rentzing
Parishioners
- 1922: 4,509,000,[5] the largest Lutheran church in Germany at that time
- 2012: 764,000
- 2013: 754,451[6]
- 2015: 713,648[7]
- 2017: 689,858[8]
- 2018: 677,064[9]
- 2019: 663,525[10]
- 2020: 647,238[11]
Practices
Ordination of women and blessing of same-sex unions were allowed.[12]
Notes
- The Bishop's title on his/her own home page .
- Sebastian Müller-Rolli in collaboration with Reiner Anselm: Evangelische Schulpolitik in Deutschland 1918–1958: Dokumente und Darstellung (Eine Veröffentlichung des Comenius-Instituts Münster). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1999,, S. 29.
- Web site: 2020-11-15. Evangelisch-Lutherische Landeskirche Sachsens. Statistik: Fakten und Zahlen. 2020-06-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20200609112738/https://www.evlks.de/wir/fakten-und-zahlen/statistik/. live.
- News: Carsten Rentzing: Warum der Bischof zurücktritt . Die Eule . 15 October 2019 . Philipp . Greifenstein . 12 October 2019 . de . 13 October 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191013200857/https://eulemagazin.de/carsten-rentzing-warum-der-bischof-zuruecktritt/ . live .
- 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. 29. .
- http://www.lutheranworld.org/sites/default/files/LWI-Statistics-2013-EN.pdf The Lutheran World Federation – 2013 Membership Figures
- http://www.ekd.de/download/kirchenmitglieder_2015.pdf Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland - Kirchemitgliederzahlen Stand 31.12.2015
- https://archiv.ekd.de/download/Kirchenmitglieder_2017.pdf Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland - Kirchemitgliederzahlen Stand 31.12.2017
- https://www.ekd.de/ekd_de/ds_doc/Ber_Kirchenmitglieder_2018.pdf Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland – Kirchemitgliederzahlen Stand 31. Dezember 2018
- https://www.ekd.de/ekd_de/ds_doc/Ber_Kirchenmitglieder_2019.pdf Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland – Kirchemitgliederzahlen Stand 31. Dezember 2019
- https://www.ekd.de/ekd_de/ds_doc/Ber_Kirchenmitglieder_2020.pdf Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland – Kirchemitgliederzahlen Stand 31. Dezember 2020
- http://www.evlks.de/aktuelles/nachrichten/31864.html Evlks.de:„Segnung von Paaren in Eingetragener Lebenspartnerschaft“ in Sachsen möglich (German)
External links
51.1661°N 13.4714°W
