The Protestant Church of Westphalia (german: Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen, EKvW) is a

United Protestant A united church, also called a uniting church, is a Christian denomination, church formed from the merger or other form of church union of two or more different Protestantism, Protestant Christian denominations. Historically, unions of Protest ...

church body A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worsh ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

. The seat of the

praeses ''Praeses'' (Latin ''praesides'') is a Latin word meaning "placed before" or "at the head". In antiquity, notably under the Roman Dominate, it was used to refer to Roman governors; it continues to see some use for various modern positions. ...

(german: Präses, the head of the church) is

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

. The EKvW emerged on 13 June 1945, when the ecclesiastical province of Westphalia within the Lutheran Church of the old-Prussian Union assumed its independence as church body of its own. The EKvW is a full member of the

Protestant Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United (e.g. Prussian Union) Protestant regional churches and denominations in Germany, ...

(EKD), and the

Reformed Alliance The Reformed Alliance (german: link=no, Reformierter Bund) in Germany is a Calvinist federation, currently it has 430 congregations and 750 individual members. An estimated 2,000,000 Reformed Christians are in Germany. The moderator is D. Peter Buko ...

and is a church whose bases are in a

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

between parishes in

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

and

Calvinistic Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Calv ...

traditions. The church is also a member of the

Community of Protestant Churches in Europe The Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE, also GEKE for ''Gemeinschaft Evangelischer Kirchen in Europa'') is a fellowship of over 100 Protestant churches which have signed the Leuenberg Agreement. Together they strive for realizing ch ...

. ''Präses'' (president) of the EKvW is

Annette Kurschus Annette Kurschus (born 14 February 1963 in Rotenburg an der Fulda) is a German Protestant theologian and pastor. Since March 2012 she has been Praeses (or in German ''Präses'') of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia and since November 2015 sh ...

(2012), as its first female leader.

Präses (President)

* 1834–1835: Jakob von der Kuhlen * 1835–1841: Christian Nonne * 1841–1843: Bernhard Jacobi * 1844–1874: Wilhelm Diedrich Albert * 1874–1902: Ludwig Polscher * 1902–1914: Friedrich König * 1914–1927: Heinrich Kockelke * 1927–1949: Karl Koch (until 1934 Präses der Provinzialsynode, 1934–1945 of Bekenntnissynode, since 1945 of synode) * 1949–1968: Ernst Wilm * 1969–1977: Hans Thimme * 1977–1985: Heinrich Reiß * 1985–1996: Hans-Martin Linnemann * 1996–2004: Manfred Sorg * 2004–2012:

Alfred Buß Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *'' Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interl ...

* 2012–:

Practices

The church permits the

ordination of women The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain Christian traditions and most denominations in which "ordina ...

. Blessing of same-sex marriages has been allowed from 2019.Neue Westfälische Nachrichten: Landeskirche von Westfalen stellt Homosexuelle vor Traualtar gleich
20 November 2019

References

External links

Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen
(in German)

(Evangelical Church in Germany, EKD)

{{Authority control

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

Westphalia