Evangelical Church of Anhalt

The Evangelical Church of Anhalt was 1945-1969 and is since 1991 one of now 20 member churches (local churches) of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD ). Like all country churches it is a public corporation; her seat is in Dessau.

The church has about 48,600 members of the community (as of December 2007) with 214 churches in 150 parishes and is therefore measured in number of their parishioners, the smallest country church in Germany. It is also one of the Uniate churches within the Evangelical Church in Germany and a member of the Union of Evangelical Churches ( ICE) and the World Council of Churches.

A main church of the Evangelical Church of Anhalt in the strict sense, there is - since the destruction of the city and castle church of St. Mary in the center of Dessau in the Second World War - not more. Although she was built mainly after 1989 with public funds again and still belongs to the parish of St. John's / St. Mary's, but is leased to the city of Dessau and is mainly used for concerts and other events (and occasionally for worship ) utilized. Large prestigious events of the national church often take place in the co- located in the center church St. Johannis. The church president is both the second pastor at the Church of St. George.

• 5.1 Regional Church Office and administrative hierarchy
• 5.2 Church circles

Territory of the state church

The area of ​​the " Evangelical Church of Anhalt " comprised of the former country Anhalt, which existed until 1945 and which forms since then, with most of the former Prussian province of Saxony Saxony- Anhalt. Since the district reform in Saxony -Anhalt, the church area mainly comprises the former districts of Anhalt- Zerbst, Bernburg and Köthen and parts of the former counties Bitterfeld, Quedlinburg, Mansfeld and Aschersleben - Staßfurt and the independent city of Dessau.

History

The Prince of Anhalt resulted in their principalities very early after the Reformation Lutheran confession of a ( 1525 Köthen, Bernburg in 1526, Dessau 1534). But in 1606 came the Principality over to the Reformed confession, so that initially there were four Reformed churches after the division of the state. Anhalt- Zerbst was 1646 again Lutheran. Köthen Dessau in 1699 and 1702 also Lutheran again partly, but remained throughout Anhalt the Reformed faith still predominant.

At the creation of the German Confederation in 1815 passed three sovereign states Anhalt: Anhalt- Bernburg, Anhalt -Dessau and Anhalt- Köthen; they were united in 1863 to the Duchy of Anhalt.

In ecclesiastical side a union between Lutheran and Reformed congregations in 1820 in Bernburg and 1827 in Dessau performed (" Uniate churches country "). In Köthen this union took place only in 1880. Yet since the reunification of Anhalt States was already in 1863 a unified national church, which received a synodal basis 1875-1878.

Head of the " Evangelical Church of Anhalt " and its predecessor churches was the respective Anhalt prince or duke as " summus episcopus ". Spiritual direction had the General Superintendent. After the First World War, the Duke of Anhalt abdicated, which meant the end of the sovereign church government. The Lutheran Church therefore gave himself a new constitution, which came into force on 14 August 1920. Head of the Church has since been a senior church, the church president leads the title since 1957. Administration of the National Church is the national church office. In 1960, at the Evangelical Church of Anhalt of the Evangelical Church of the Union. After its dissolution in 2003 she became a member of the Union of Evangelical Churches. Between 1969 and 1991, the national church was a church member of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in the GDR.

Management of the national church

The country church is led by the three governing bodies of the country of Churches, church leaders (see below) and the synod. President of the National Council of Churches is the Church President ( until 1957 " OKR " ), a theologian. The country's Council of Churches continues to belong to the department head of the National Church Office ( upper church councils). The National Council of Churches is elected by the synod.

General Superintendent, Upper Church Councils and Church President

Synod

As a "parliament " has the national church a church synod. 33 of its 39 members ( Synod ) are elected by the elders of the church circles, two-thirds have non- theologians and third pastors or pastors be. Six members of the Synod shall be appointed by the church leadership. Your responsibilities are similar to those of political parliaments.

Chairman of the synod is the President of the Synod, currently Dr. Alwin Fürle. Its predecessor was Dipl. -Ing. Dr. Siegfried Brown. The President of the Synod and two elected assessors form the " Bureau of the Synod ", which in turn forms the church leadership of the Evangelical Church of Anhalt, together with two other elected representatives of the Synod and the State Council of Churches.

The Synod meets twice a year usually between days nine permanent and two non - permanent committees.

Administration of the State Church

Country church office and administrative hierarchy

The church president has his official residence in Dessau. There, in the country church office the national church from state Council of Churches, the permanent governing body of the church (the "Government " of the church ) and its employees is managed. The country's Council of Churches include the department head of the regional church office ( they use the title " Supreme Ecclesiastical Council ") and the Church of President.

In the management hierarchy, the national church is from bottom to top as follows: At the base of the parishes are available as public bodies with elected parish councils, the " parish church councils ". The members of this community councils of churches are called " elders " or " parish council ". Several parishes together form a church circle ( in the general administration a county equivalent), headed by a rector circle is. The church circles are not public bodies and have, as a body, the circle synod, whose members are appointed by the respective parishes. The 5 Church circles together form the national church.

Church circles

The five church districts are divided into 150 parishes, which are grouped into regions.

• Dessau Region Dessau city
• City Region West
• Region Cross / Törten, parish of St. Peter and cross
• Eastern Region
• Southern Region
• West Region

• Region city of Köthen
• Northern Region
• Southern Region

• West region ( city of Zerbst, Lindau, Steutz )
• Eastern Region ( Roßlau, Coswig Zieko )

• Region Bernburg downtown
• West Region
• Region Staßfurt
• Region Nienburg

• Region Ballenstedt
• Region Frose - Hoym
• Region Harzgerode

Hymnals

Sing or sang in recent seasons mainly for the following hymnals Municipalities of the Evangelical Church of Anhalt:

• Evangelical Hymns for the Duchy of Anhalt (or for the Anhalt state church ), ed according to the ecclesiastical decree of February 15, 1883
• Hymns for the Province of Saxony and Anhalt, introduced by decision of the National Church Council of February 3, 1931

• Evangelical Church Hymns, output for the Konsistorialbezirke Berlin, Magdeburg, Greifswald and Görlitz and the Evangelical Church of Anhalt; Berlin, circa 1950 and entitled " Evangelical church hymnal. Issue for Evang. Lutheran Church Anhalt, Evang. Church of Berlin- Brandenburg, Evang. Church Church of the Görlitz area, Evang. Lutheran Church Greifswald, Evang. Church of the Province of Saxony "

• Evangelical Hymns, output for the Evangelical Church of Anhalt, the Evangelical Church in Berlin- Brandenburg, the Evangelical Church of Silesian Upper Lusatia, the Pomeranian Evangelical Church, the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony; introduced on Easter, April 3, 1994