Church Conference of the Protestant Church in Germany

The Church Conference of the Protestant Church in Germany (German: Kirchenkonferenz der EKD) is one of the central governing bodies of the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD), the umbrella organisation of Germany's regional Protestant churches. It brings together the leading theologians and the leading jurists of the EKD's member churches — the 20 evangelical Landeskirchen — under the chairmanship of the chairperson of the EKD Council. In this sense it functions as a federal leadership organ that coordinates the common concerns of otherwise largely autonomous regional churches. The Conference meets four times a year at varying locations, and its office is housed in the Kirchenamt der EKD (the EKD's church office). Its remit covers questions of law, the working conditions of employees, finance and administration. It is not merely advisory: the Conference submits proposals and suggestions to the Synod and the Council, participates in the election of the Council, and holds its own right of initiative in legislation. It thus sits alongside the Synod (the church parliament) and the Council (the executive leadership) in the EKD's three-body governance structure. The origins of the Church Conference reach back to the founding moment of the EKD itself. In August 1945, around 120 Protestant church leaders gathered in Treysa in northern Hesse for the first conference of Protestant church leaders after the Second World War. That first Kirchenkonferenz constituted the Council of the EKD and determined its membership, and it also founded the Evangelisches Hilfswerk, which in 1957 merged with the Innere Mission to form the Diakonisches Werk. The first chairperson of the Council of this new structure was Theophil Wurm, the Württemberg Landesbischof. Today the EKD describes itself as comprising 20 member churches with roughly 18 million members, and the Church Conference remains the forum in which their leadership coordinates legal, financial and administrative policy. Because it is a governing body rather than a commercial enterprise, it has no products in the consumer sense; its 'offerings' are governance functions — legislative initiative, Council elections, and the preparation of proposals for the Synod and Council.

The Church Conference of the Protestant Church in Germany is inseparable from the founding history of the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD) itself. The EKD was founded from 27 to 31 August 1945 in Treysa, in northern Hesse, where around 120 Protestant church representatives gathered after the Second World War for a first conference of Protestant church leaders. The aim was a new beginning and the creation of an association of Lutheran, Reformed and United regional churches. This gathering is described by the EKD as the first Kirchenkonferenz. That first Church Conference was not merely deliberative. It constituted the Council of the EKD and determined its personnel composition. The Württemberg Landesbischof Theophil Wurm was elected as the first chairperson of the Council of this new structure. The Conference also founded the Evangelisches Hilfswerk, which in 1957 was merged with the Innere Mission to form the Diakonisches Werk der EKD. In this founding moment, therefore, the Church Conference acted as the constitutive assembly of the new church federation. Over the following decades the EKD's governance settled into a structure in which the Synod, the Council and the Church Conference each play distinct roles. The Church Conference became the federal leadership organ in which the leading clergy and leading jurists of the member churches meet. It is chaired by the chairperson of the EKD Council and meets four times a year at varying locations, with its office located in the Kirchenamt der EKD. Its competences are defined functionally rather than commercially: it advises on questions of law, on the working conditions of employees, on finance and on administration. It submits proposals and suggestions to the Synod and the Council, participates in the election of the Council, and holds its own right of initiative in legislation. The EKD's own historical self-description notes that the church has critically worked through its role during the two World Wars, and that the new beginning of 1945, the founding of the EKD and the years of German division shaped the church of today, as did its key position at the time of the Wende and reunification. In the present day the EKD states that it comprises 20 regional churches with roughly 18 million members, and the Church Conference continues to serve as the forum where their leadership coordinates common concerns. Its history is thus less a history of products or markets than a history of institutional governance within German Protestantism.

• 1957

  The Evangelisches Hilfswerk is merged with the Innere Mission to form the Diakonisches Werk der EKD.

• 1945

  From 27 to 31 August, around 120 Protestant church representatives meet in Treysa, northern Hesse, for the first conference of Protestant church leaders; the EKD is founded and this gathering is described as the first Kirchenkonferenz.

• 1945

  The Church Conference constitutes the Council of the EKD and determines its personnel composition; Württemberg Landesbischof Theophil Wurm is elected as the first chairperson of the Council.

• 1945

  The Church Conference founds the Evangelisches Hilfswerk in Treysa.

Federal governing body within the EKD's three-body structure (Synod, Council, Church Conference), coordinating law, finance, administration and staff working conditions across the 20 member churches.

1. 1Kirchenkonferenz – EKDekd.de
2. 2Geschichte – EKDekd.de
3. 3Geschichte der EKD – EKDekd.de
4. 4Church Conference of the Protestant Church in Germany – Wikidatawikidata.org