Almost unnoticed by the Public, published by the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) recently, a position paper on your Website to have a way in the future. “Eleven principles for an open-minded Church,” the reform of the joyful “future team”, which was convened three years ago by the Synod of the EKD. Their future is grim, the Christian churches know in this country at least since the EKD and the German bishops ‘ conference commissioned the study “projection to 2060,” according to the number of Church members in the coming forty years will be cut in half.
Hannah Bethke
feuilleton correspondent in Berlin.
F. A. Z.
the time is Past when we could still hope, the Church struggled to maintain their communities, and think beyond soft flushed Church tags formats a better answer to the need for religiosity, which exists, as before. Dawning of a new Era: The reality has caught up with the EKD. The question is no longer: How can we attract more members? The approach is now: The crisis of faith is unstoppable.
How are we shaping the Church with a low bonding force, a few members and declining resources? A “Church on good reason” in mind for the “future team”, which is a rather euphemistic description, in view of the tremendous changes that are proposed in the eleven guiding principles. Accordingly, diocesan structures, that is, the division of the Church of the area parishes should be dissolved, Substantially converted “to a dynamic and multifaceted with each other mutual complement”.
Sunday worship services are scarce
With other words: There is no fixed community, but only of ecclesiastical practice, in different locations, and the supply of services is scarce. As a result, the Evangelical Church is called also, “to set the importance of the traditional Sunday Church service in Relation to the many successful Alternative worship and celebrations, and the Christian community”. This means that you will not soon live on the Sunday worship service do without, if you are lucky, in the vicinity of a usually well-attended main Church?
the visibility of The Church is developed to change at least strong, if you tested as required “new forms of community”, “local formats” and “Church life” made more flexible and individualized. How a religious community should ever arise, if the Church structures are fragmented in a way, is debatable.
Open the position paper leaves the question, what will that mean for the work of the pastor, if they are to respond to the growing “importance of situationally-adapted forms”. Preach as needed? Worship without a Church? Social work instead of counseling? Only one thing is clear: If the classic model of an Association Church is to be abandoned, is also the traditional Amtsverständnis the pastor in question.
