North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church

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The North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church is a Protestant church in Northern Germany, which largely covers the area of the states of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg where it is the most important Protestant denomination. Bishops of the Lutheran church are Maria Jepsen (for Hamburg and Lübeck) and Gerhard Ulrich (for Schleswig-Holstein except Lübeck). It has 2.1 million members (as of 2006) in 595 parishes, constituting 46% of the population of its district.

It is a full member of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany, and the Lutheran World Federation and is based on the teachings brought forward by Martin Luther and others during the Reformation. The church is also a member of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe.

The most prominent church buildings are Schleswig Cathedral, Lübeck Cathedral and St. Michaelis in Hamburg. The historic Hamburg Cathedral was torn down in 1805.^[1]

Ordination of women and blessing of same-sex unions are allowed.

The North Elbian Church is planning to merge with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg and the Pomeranian Evangelical Church in 2012. The merged church will be called the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Northern Germany.

Contents 1 History 2 List of bishops 3 References 4 External links

[edit] History

The North Elbian Church was founded in 1977 by the merger of four former state churches:

• the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the State of Hamburg;
• the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lübeck;
• the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Schleswig-Holstein;
• the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Eutin, which had been split off from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg and represented the former Bishopric of Lübeck.

It is named after its location north of the River Elbe.

[edit] List of bishops

• Hamburg district (seat St. Michaelis Church, Hamburg; since 2008, Hamburg-Lübeck)
  • 1977 - 1983: Hans-Otto Wölber
  • 1983 - 1992: Peter Krusche
  • 1992 - today: Maria Jepsen
• Holstein-Lübeck district (seat Lübeck Cathedral)
  • 1964 - 1981: Friedrich Hübner, until 1977 bishop of Holstein in Kiel
  • 1981 - 1991: Ulrich Wilckens
  • 1991 - 2001: Karl Ludwig Kohlwage
  • 2001 - 2008: Bärbel Wartenberg-Potter
• Schleswig district (seat Schleswig Cathedral; since 2008, Schleswig and Holstein)
  • 1967 - 1978: Alfred Petersen
  • 1979 - 1990: Karlheinz Stoll
  • 1991 - 2008: Hans-Christian Knuth
  • 2008 - today: Gerhard Ulrich

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• North Elbian Evangelical Church (German)
• Evangelical Church in Germany (German)