The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary (ELCH; hu, Magyarországi Evangélikus Egyház) is a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

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

denomination in Hungary. In 2019, there were 176,000 baptized members. The church has three

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

s, with nearly 300 parishes and 500 places of worship in Hungary, and is the third largest Christian denomination in Hungary. It is currently led by Presiding Bishop Tamás Fabiny.

History

Lutheranism arrived early in the Kingdom of Hungary, but was repressed by the Roman Catholic Habsburg dynasty. During the "Mourning Decade" (1671–1681) Hungarian Lutherans, along with the

Reformed Church in Hungary The Reformed Church in Hungary ( hu, Magyarországi Református Egyház, MRE) is the largest Protestant church in Hungary, with parishes among the Hungarian diaspora abroad. Today, it is made up of 1,249 congregations in 27 presbyteries and fou ...

, were severely persecuted. There was a renewal with

Pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christian life, including a social concern for the needy an ...

, and the Deed of Tolerance issued by king

Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...

in 1781 granted religious freedom. Protestant churches were fully recognized after the restoration of the sovereignty of Hungary in 1867.

Structure

The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary consists of three dioceses, each led by a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

: * Northern Diocese (''Északi Evangélikus Egyházkerület'') * Southern Diocese (''Déli Evangélikus Egyházkerület'') * Western (Transdanubian) Diocese (''Nyugati (Dunántúli) Evangélikus Egyházkerület'') One diocesan bishop is elected to head the national church as Presiding Bishop. The highest decision making body is the Synod, which consists of all the bishops, plus representatives (both lay and ordained) from each diocese.

Education

The ELCH has an extensive educational programme. This includes seminary training for its ordination candidates, lay training programmes for its local and regional lay leaders, a network of 46 schools covering age ranges from nursery education to secondary school, and three higher education institutions (colleges and universities).

Affiliations

The church is member of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most ju ...

, the

Conference of European Churches The Conference of European Churches (CEC) was founded in 1959 to promote reconciliation, dialogue and friendship between the churches of Europe at a time of growing Cold War political tensions and divisions. In its commitment to Europe as a who ...

, Ecumenical Council of Churches in Hungary, the

Lutheran World Federation The Lutheran World Federation (LWF; german: Lutherischer Weltbund) is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish ...

, and 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 c ...

References

External links