"Evangelical Church in Central Germany The Evangelical Church in Central Germany (German:""Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland"") is a United church body covering most of the German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia and some adjacent areas in Brandenburg and Saxony. The Church was formed on January 1, 2009, when the Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony merged with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia and became the Evangelical Church in Central Germany. The Church is the most important Christian denomination in Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt. The bishop's seat is Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt. The Church is a full member of"
"Protestant areas of the former states of Prussia were much more affected by secularism than predominantly Catholic areas. The predominantly secularised states, such as Hamburg or the East German states, used to be Lutheran or United Protestant strongholds. Because of this, Protestantism is now strongest in two strips of territory in the former West Germany, one extending from the Danish border to Hesse, and the other extending northeast-southwest across southern Germany. There is a non-religious majority in Hamburg, Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt only 19.7 percent belong to the two big denominations"
"Geographically, Protestantism is concentrated in the northern, central and eastern parts of the country. These are mostly members of the EKD, which encompasses Lutheran, Reformed and administrative or confessional unions of both traditions dating back to the Prussian Union of 1817. Roman Catholicism is concentrated in the south and west. According to the 2011 German Census, Christianity is the largest religion in Germany, claiming 66.8% of the total population. Relative to the whole population, 31.7% declared themselves as Protestants, including members of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) (30.8%) and the free churches () (0.9%), and 31.2% declared themselves as"
"Netherlands, Switzerland, Latvia, Estonia and Hungary, it remains one of the most popular religions. Although Czech Republic was the site of one of the most significant pre-reformation movements, there are only few Protestant adherents; mainly due to historical reasons like persecution of Protestants by the Catholic Habsburgs, restrictions during the Communist rule, and also the ongoing secularization. Over the last several decades, religious practice has been declining as secularization has increased. According to a 2012 study about Religiosity in the European Union in 2012 by Eurobarometer, Protestants made up 12% of the EU population. According to Pew Research Center, Protestants"
"the world's population at 11.6% and 13%. In European countries which were most profoundly influenced by the Reformation, Protestantism still remains the most practiced religion. These include the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom. In other historical Protestant strongholds such as Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Latvia, Estonia and Hungary, it remains one of the most popular religions. Although Czech Republic was the site of one of the most significant pre-reformation movements, there are only few Protestant adherents; mainly due to historical reasons like persecution of Protestants by the Catholic Habsburgs, restrictions during the Communist rule, and also the ongoing secularization."
"69.9% of the total population. Survey results are various, for example, according to a 2016 Ipsos survey, only 32% of the approximately 500 working-age, internet connected participants claimed to belong to Christianity, and among them 24% belong to Protestantism, 4% to Catholicism, 3% to Orthodox Christianity and 1% to the Jehovah's Witnesses. Another survey by the Pew Research Center found in Spring 2016 that 66.7% out of a sample of 1,000 Swedes claimed to be Christians. As of 2015, 6,601,113 people, or 67% of the total population, were registered members of the various Protestant denominations in Sweden. The Church of"
"region, 100 million in Europe and 2 million in Middle East-North Africa. Protestants account for nearly forty percent of Christians worldwide and more than one tenth of the total human population. Various estimates put the percentage of Protestants in relation to the total number of world's Christians at 33%, 36%, 36.7%, and 40%, while in relation to the world's population at 11.6% and 13%. In European countries which were most profoundly influenced by the Reformation, Protestantism still remains the most practiced religion. These include the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom. In other historical Protestant strongholds such as Germany, the"
"survey held among about 500 working-age, internet connected people in Sweden, only 24% of the participants claim to believe in Protestantism. 45% of the participants claim not to have any religious or spiritual belief, of whom 33% are atheists and 13% are agnostics. 13% say that they hold spiritual beliefs but they are not religious. Immigration and conversion has brought into Sweden a variety of religions from the East, including Islam (3%) and Buddhism (1%), but also new populations of Catholics (4%), and Orthodox Christianity (3%). Eight recognized religious denominations, in addition to the Church of Sweden, raise revenues through"
"German religious landscape changes, as Evangelical Protestants (in the so-called ""Freikirchen"") and Muslims are on the rise. Protestantism is the major religion in Northern, Eastern and Middle Germany, with the Reformed branch predominating in the extreme northwest and Lippe, the Lutheran branch in the north and south, and the United branch in Middle and Western Germany. While the majority of Christians in Southern Germany are Roman Catholic, some areas in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria are predominantly Protestant, e.g. Middle Franconia and the government region of Stuttgart. The vast majority of German Protestants belong to a member church of the EKD. With"
"and provinces or mergers thereof. The Moravian Church (""Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine"") and the Federation of Evangelical Reformed Congregations are associate members. Evangelical Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United (Prussian Union) Protestant regional churches and denominations in Germany, which collectively encompasses the vast majority of Protestants in that country. In 2017, the EKD had a membership of 21,536,000 members, or 26.1% of the German population. It constitutes one of the largest national Protestant bodies in the world. Church offices managing the federation are located in Hannover-Herrenhausen, Lower"
"This includes relatively new denominations like Baptists, Methodists, etc. as well as older ones like the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church (Germany). Pew Research Center estimated in early 2010s that China has 35 million independent Protestants (mainly in house churches) and 3.3 million underground Catholics. In Sweden, the term Free Church (Swedish: ""frikyrka"") often means any Christian Protestant denomination that is not part of the Church of Sweden, which was the Swedish state church up to 1 January 2000. This includes Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists etc. Free church A ""free church"" is a Christian denomination or independent church that is intrinsically separate"
"Church (USA), the Quakers, the United Reformed Church, the Church of Iceland, the Church of Sweden, the Church of Denmark, the Church of Norway, the United Protestant Church in Belgium, the Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia, the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau, the Mennonite Church in the Netherlands the United Protestant Church of France and some non-trinitarian denominations suchs as the Unity Church and the Unitarians perform weddings between same-sex couples. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, many Lutheran, reformed and united churches in Evangelical Church in Germany, some"
"Church (CELC), primarily located in the lands of the former East Germany, has 1,470 baptised members. The German parishioners of the Moravian Church, which is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, are also confessionally counting as Lutherans. Lutheranism is the established church in most of the Nordic countries including Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. In these countries, where most people are Lutheran, the churches are supported by taxes, either indirectly through the general taxes paid by most citizens or directly in the form of a church tax. In Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden citizens who are members of"
"Hanover (comprising the former Province of Hanover), Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg (comprising the former Free State of Oldenburg), Evangelical Lutheran Church of Schaumburg-Lippe (comprising the former Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe), and Evangelical Reformed Church (covering all the state). Together, these member churches of the Evangelical Church in Germany gather a substantial part of the Protestant population in Germany. The Catholic Church was the faith of 17.1% of the population in 2016. It is organised in the three dioceses of Osnabrück (western part of the state), Münster (comprising the former Free State of Oldenburg) and Hildesheim (northern and eastern part"
"the ""Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces"" reorganised in 1922 under the name ""Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union"" (, EKapU or ApU), renamed to ""Evangelische Kirche der Union"" (EKU) in 1953. Religious affiliation declined among Protestants in both West and East Germany after World War II, although to a considerably greater extent in the East. Today there are more Protestants than Catholics in Germany, although the Roman Catholic Church has more members than any individual Protestant denomination. Protestantism in Germany Protestantism in Germany consists of the Evangelical Church in Germany and free churches. The Evangelical Church in Germany"
"than 1% of the population. Buddhism has around 200,000 adherents (0.2%), Judaism has around 200.000 adherents (0.2%), Hinduism 90,000 (0.1%), Sikhism 75,000 (0.1%) and Yazidis religion (45,000-60,000). All other religious communities in Germany have fewer than 50,000 (<0.1%) adherents. Protestantism is concentrated in the north and east and Roman Catholicism is concentrated in the south and west. According to the last nationwide census, Protestantism is more widespread among the population with German citizenship; there are slightly more Catholics total because of the Catholic immigrant population (including such groups as Poles and Italians). The former Pope, Benedict XVI, was born in"
"in Sweden and Denmark talking to hundreds of people about religion, reported that they were “often disinclined or hesitant to talk with [prof. Zuckerman] about religion, and even once they agreed to do so, they usually had very little to say on the matter.” Many Danish people define themselves as spiritual but not religious. Christianity is the predominant religion of Denmark, with three quarters of the Danish population estimated as adherents of the """"Folkekirken"""" (""People's Church""), Denmark's national Lutheran church. Aside from Lutheranism, there is a small Catholic minority, as well as small Protestant denominations such as the Baptist Union"
"national church, but it is no longer ""official"". In Sweden, the national church used to be Lutheranism, but it is no longer ""official"" since 2000. Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Ireland, Portugal, Serbia, Romania, Russia, Spain and Turkey are officially secular. Buddhism is thinly spread throughout Europe, and the fastest growing religion in recent years with about 3 million adherents. In Kalmykia, Tibetan Buddhism is prevalent. Hinduism mainly among Indian immigrants. Growing rapidly in recent years, notably in the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands. In 1998, there were an estimated 1.4 million Hindu adherents in Europe. Jainism, small"
"religious groups, the Roman Catholic Church and the mainline Protestant Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) use a three-level hierarchy of ""churches"", ""free churches"" and : Every Protestant (church whose canonical jurisdiction extends over one or several states, or ) and Catholic episcopacy has a ( delegate) from whom information about religious movements may be obtained. Notes Further reading Religion in Germany Christianity is the largest religion in Germany, comprising an estimated 57% of the country's population in 2017. The second largest religion in Germany is Islam, with around 4 million adherents in 2016 (5% of the population). Smaller religious groups"
"(2013) and the Protestant Church in the Netherlands (2004). As mainline Protestantism shrinks in Europe and North America due to the rise of secularism, Reformed and Lutheran denominations merge, often creating large nationwide denominations. The phenomenon is much less common among evangelical, nondenominational and charismatic churches as new ones arise and many of them remain independent of each other. Perhaps the oldest official united church is found in Germany, where the Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of Lutheran, United (Prussian Union) and Reformed churches, a union dating back to 1817. The first of the series of unions was"
"Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony The Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony (""Evangelische Kirche der Kirchenprovinz Sachsen""; KPS) was the most important Protestant denomination in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. As a united Protestant church, it combined both Lutheran and Reformed traditions (Prussian Union). On 1 January 2009 the church body merged with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia into the Evangelical Church in Central Germany. The Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony emerged on 1 October 1950, when the ecclesiastical province of Saxony within the Evangelical Church of the old-Prussian Union assumed"
"most important Protestant denomination in this area. The church is a member of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe. Institutions of the EKHN are the Church Synod, the church leadership and the church president, who is elected by the General Synod for eight years. The Protestant Church of Hesse and Nassau was founded in 1946 and 1947 through a merger of three other formerly independent churches: Protestant Church in Hesse, Protestant Church in Nassau, Protestant Church in Frankfurt. The church ran an (Protestant academy) in , which was moved to Frankfurt in 2013. Ordination of women and blessing of"
"the Church of Sweden, the Church of Norway, the Church of Denmark, the Church of Iceland, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, the Evangelical Church in Germany, the Methodist Church in Britain, the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, the United Protestant Church in Belgium, the Swiss Reformed Church, the United Protestant Church of France, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Anglican Church in Canada, the Old Catholic Church, and the United Church of Christ in Japan. The issue of ordination has caused particular controversy in the worldwide Anglican communion, following the election of the Bishop of New Hampshire Gene Robinson"
"the largest Protestant denominational families were historically Pentecostal denominations (10.8%), Anglican (10.6%), Lutheran (9.7%), Baptist (9%), United and uniting churches (unions of different denominations) (7.2%), Presbyterian or Reformed (7%), Methodist (3.4%), Adventist (2.7%), Congregationalist (0.5%), Brethren (0.5%), The Salvation Army (0.3%) and Moravian (0.1%). Other denominations accounted for 38.2% of Protestants. The United States is home to approximately 20% of Protestants. According to a 2012 study, Protestant share of U.S. population dropped to 48%, thus ending its status as religion of the majority for the first time. The decline is attributed mainly to the dropping membership of the Mainline Protestant"
"a Protestant-majority region, especially Lutheranism, with the two northernmost provinces of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony having the largest percentage of self-reported Lutherans in Germany. Exceptions are the Catholic districts Emsland, Cloppenburg and Vechta in the west, traditionally linked to the Catholic region of Westphalia in the south, and the southernmost part of Lower Saxony,around the city Duderstadt, traditionally being part of the Catholic enclave region Eichsfeld. Culturally and socially, Northern Germany is characterized by higher levels of income equality and gender equality than southern and south-western Germany. While the national federal Gini coefficient for Germany stands at around 30, the"
"of the churches owe allegiance, which can authoritatively define the faith. Most denominations share common beliefs in the major aspects of the Christian faith while differing in many secondary doctrines, although what is major and what is secondary is a matter of idiosyncratic belief. Several countries have established their national churches, linking the ecclesiastical structure with the state. Jurisdictions where a Protestant denomination has been established as a state religion include several Nordic countries; Denmark (including Greenland), the Faroe Islands (its church being independent since 2007), Iceland and Norway have established Evangelical Lutheran churches. Tuvalu has the only established church"
"displays contemporary art. 59.4% of the German population belongs to Christian denominations: 30% are Roman Catholic, and 29% are affiliated with Protestantism (the figures are known accurately because Germany imposes a church tax on those who disclose a religious affiliation). The North and East are predominantly Protestant, the South and West predominantly Catholic. Nowadays there is a non-religious majority in Hamburg and the former East German states. Germany was, at one point, almost in its entirety within the Roman Catholic Holy Roman Empire, but was also the source of Protestant reformers such as Martin Luther. During Kulturkampf the government opposed"
"and Reformed) churches. The two churches together comprised 54% of the population in 2017, of whom 28.2% belonged to the Catholic Church and 26.1% to the Evangelical Church. In 2016, the Orthodox Church constituted ~2% of the population and other minor Christian churches (including Jehovah's Witnesses, Latter Day Saints, other Protestant denominations, and others), formed 1–1.5%. Demographics of religion in Germany vary greatly by region and age. A majority of Germans under 25 years-old claim to not believe in any religion. Non-religious people (including atheists and agnostics) represent the majority in some of Germany's major cities, including Berlin and Hamburg,"
"same-sex unions were 2013 allowed. Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau The Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau (, EKHN) is a United Protestant church body in the German states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate. There is no bishop and therefore no cathedral. One of its most prominent churches is Katharinenkirche in Frankfurt am Main. Dating back to the union in the Duchy of Nassau in August 1817, before the Prussian Union of September 1817, it is the first United and uniting church in the world. The EKHN is a full member of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), and is"
"Church), Norway (Church of Norway), Vatican City (Roman Catholic Church), Switzerland (Roman Catholic Church, Swiss Reformed Church and Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland). The estimated number of Christians in the world ranges from 2.2 billion to 2.4 billion people. The faith represents approximately one-third of the world's population and is the largest religion in the world, with the three largest groups of Christians being the Catholic Church, Protestantism, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The largest Christian denomination is the Catholic Church, with an estimated 1.2 billion adherents. A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who"
"United Church of Christ, the United Church of Canada, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the Episcopal Church of the United States, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Evangelical Lutheran Church In America,the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the Church of Denmark, the Church of Sweden, the Church of Norway, the Protestant Church in the Netherlands, the United Protestant Church of France, the United Protestant Church in Belgium, the Icelandic Church, the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau, the Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia, the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, the Protestant Church in Baden,the Evangelical"
"The LWF 2013 membership data. ""Sorted by country in alphabetical order"" Some member denominations have recognized same-gender unions through marriage, a blessing rite, or special prayers. These include the Church of Denmark, Church of Iceland, Church of Norway, Church of Sweden, Evangelical Church in Austria, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Chile, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Geneva, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Italy, a majority of the churches within the Evangelical Church in Germany, Evangelical Church of the Lutheran Confession in Brazil, Evangelical Church of the River Plate,"
"do not recognize the ordination of ministers in other, Protestant, churches that do not maintain the apostolic succession. The Lutheran Churches of Sweden and Finland have always maintained unbroken apostolic succession and their holy orders have never been dismissed by Rome. This is not the case for the Lutheran Churches of Norway, Denmark, and Iceland where there occurred breaks in succession. Anglicans accept the ordination of most mainline denominations; however, only those denominations in full communion with the Anglican Communion, such as some Lutheran denominations, may preside at services requiring a priest. Married men may be ordained to the diaconate"