The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg (German : Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Oldenburg) is a Lutheran church in the German state of Lower Saxony.
The seat of the church leaders is in Oldenburg, as is the preaching venue of its bishop at St Lamberti Church. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg is a regional church (German: Landeskirche) and a full member of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD). As one of just two regional churches in the EKD, the church is only a guest member of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD) and the Union of Evangelical Churches (UEK). The church is also a full member of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe and the Lutheran World Federation. The church has 390,072 members (2020) [1] in 123 parishes, with approximately 260 pastors (men and women). It is the largest Protestant denomination in the area of the former state of Oldenburg.
The Lutheran Reformation came to the County of Oldenburg beginning in 1527. [2] Until the German Revolution in 1918, the church was a state church and the monarch was the acting bishop (summus episcopus, or supreme governor) of the church. In 1922 the Church in Oldenburg counted 291,000 parishioners. [3]
Ordination of women and blessing of same-sex marriages were allowed. [4] [5]
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg has four leading authorities: the synod, the bishop, the superior church council (Oberkirchenrat), and the common church committee.
The synod is the highest leading authority in the Church. The election of the 60 members (two-thirds laypersons and one-third clerics) of the synod is for six years.
The Evangelical Church in Germany, also known as the Protestant Church in Germany, is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed, and United Protestant regional Churches in Germany, collectively encompassing the vast majority of the country's Protestants. In 2022, the EKD had a membership of 19,153,000 members, or 22.7% of the German population. It constitutes one of the largest Protestant bodies in the world. Church offices managing the federation are located in Herrenhausen, Hanover, Lower Saxony. Many of its members consider themselves Lutherans.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia was a Lutheran member church of the umbrella Protestant Church in Germany. The seat of the church was in Eisenach. The church covered those parts of the state of Thuringia that were not part of the former Province of Saxony. It was the largest Protestant denomination in this area.
The German Evangelical Church was a successor to the German Protestant Church Confederation from 1933 until 1945. It is also known in English as the Protestant Reich Church and colloquially as the Reich Church.
The Prussian Union of Churches was a major Protestant church body which emerged in 1817 from a series of decrees by Frederick William III of Prussia that united both Lutheran and Reformed denominations in Prussia. Although not the first of its kind, the Prussian Union was the first to occur in a major German state.
The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover is a Lutheran church body (Landeskirche) in the northern German state of Lower Saxony and the city of Bremerhaven covering the territory of the former Kingdom of Hanover.
The Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau is a United Protestant church body in the German federal 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.
The Evangelical Church of Bremen is a United Protestant member church of the Protestant Church in Germany in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.
The Protestant Church in the Rhineland is a United Protestant church body in parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Hesse (Wetzlar). This is actually the area covered by the former Prussian Rhine Province until 1920.
The Evangelical Church Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia is a United Protestant church body in the German states of Brandenburg, Berlin and a part of Saxony.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick is a Lutheran church in the German states of Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.
Evangelical Church of the Palatinate is a United Protestant church in parts of the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, endorsing both Lutheran and Calvinist orientations.
The Evangelical Church of the Church Province of Saxony was the most important Protestant denomination in the German Province of Saxony, also known as Prussian Saxony (1816-1944) and state of Saxony-Anhalt. As a united Protestant church, it combined both Lutheran and Reformed traditions. On 1 January 2009 the church body merged with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Thuringia into the Evangelical Church in Central Germany.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria is a Lutheran member church of the Protestant Church in Germany in the German state of Bavaria.
Lutheran viewpoints concerning homosexuality are diverse because there is no one worldwide body which represents all Lutherans. The Lutheran World Federation, a worldwide 'communion of churches' and the largest global body of Lutherans, contains member churches on both sides of the issue. However, other Lutherans, including the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference and International Lutheran Council, completely reject homosexuality.
The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg is a Lutheran member church of the Protestant Church in Germany in the German former state of Württemberg, now part of the state of Baden-Württemberg.
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 is at Meissen Cathedral. Prior to the propagation of state atheism in the German Democratic Republic, it was the largest Evangelical Lutheran church in Germany.
The Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck is a United Protestant church body in former Hesse-Cassel and the Waldeck part of the former Free State of Waldeck-Pyrmont.
The German Protestant Church Confederation was a formal federation of 28 regional Protestant churches (Landeskirchen) of Lutheran, Reformed or United Protestant administration or confession. It existed during the Weimar Republic from 1922 until replaced by the German Evangelical Church in 1933. It was a predecessor body to the Protestant Church in Germany.
The Church of Lippe is a Reformed (Calvinist) member church of the Protestant Church in Germany that covers what used to be the Principality of Lippe.
The Protestant Church in Baden is a United Protestant member church of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD), and member of the Conference of Churches on the Rhine, which now functions as a regional group of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE). The Evangelical Church in Baden is a united Protestant church. Its headquarter, the Evangelical Superior Church Council is located in Karlsruhe.