Hochkirchliche St. Johannes-Bruderschaft (SJB) (''High Church Brotherhood of St John'') is a German High Church Lutheran religious society for men and women under the patronate of

John the Apostle John the Apostle ( grc, Ἰωάννης; la, Ioannes ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ;) or Saint John the Beloved was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Generally listed as the youngest apostle, he was the son of Zebede ...

within the

Hochkirchliche Vereinigung The Hochkirchliche Vereinigung Augsburgischen Bekenntnisses (''High Church Union of the Augsburg Confession'') is a Lutheran High Church organisation in Germany. It was founded in Berlin in October 1918, inspired by the High Church theses ''Stimuli ...

. It has about 100 members in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It is headed by ''Apostolischer Vorsteher'' +Innocenz Konrad Schrieder.

The Rule

The aim of the confraternity is "the sacramental renewal of the Church, restorement of the apostolic succession in the Church and recovery of the unity of the christendom". The Brotherhood is headed by ''Apostolischer Vorsteher'', who is a bishop in apostolic succession. He is assisted by

vicar apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

, likewise bishop in apostolic succession. Brotherhood elects the

vicar capitular :''See: Catholic Church hierarchy#Equivalents of diocesan bishops in law'' A diocesan administrator is a provisional ordinary of a Roman Catholic particular church. Diocesan administrators in canon law The college of consultors elects an admi ...

and ''Apostolischer Vorsteher'' with more than 66,6% majority. The Rule contains for example following: * Members have regular prayer life and preferably say

daily office In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of Fixed prayer times#Christianity, fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or sel ...

using a breviary ''Chorgebet'' (2009) and whenever possible, in common with others. * Priest members are committed to celebrate Eucharist every Sunday if possible and to take care that the eucharistic prayer contains also Anamnesis (Christianity), anamnesis and epiclesis after the rite ''Deutsche Messe'' (1926 renewed 2013). * Members go regularly to private Confession (religion), confession and priest members work for reanimation of the practice of the private Confession (religion), confession in their parishes. * Members of the Brotherhood follow fasting and abstinence rules of the western Church. * They work by prayer, words, and deeds for peace, justice, and probation of the creation, collaboration of peoples and races. Members take part in the work of ecumenical movement.

History

St. Johannes-Bruderschaft's predecessor "Evangelisch-Katholische Eucharistische Gemeinschaft" (Evangelical Catholic Eucharistic Society) was founded 1929 in Germany. It was forbidden 1937 in Nazi Germany because of its resistance to Aryan paragraphs and Internationalism, but was founded again in 1947 as "Evangelische-Ökumenische St.-Johannes-Bruderschaft". The first ''Apostolischer Vorsteher'' of the confraternity was Friedrich Heiler (1929-1967). He arranged to receive the episcopal consecration from a bishop of the independent Gallican Church (Petite L'Eglise) in Syrian-orthodox tradition. On August 25, 1930, Heiler received from the hands of the Gallican Bishop Petrus Gaston Vigué, using the Roman Ritual, all the Holy Orders including the episcopate.

Apostolic succession in St. Johannes-Bruderschaft

* 129. Antonius (Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares, Franz X. Alvarez) - 1889 * 130. Timotheus (Joseph René Vilatte, René J. Vilatte) - 1892 * 131. Paulus (Paolo Miraglia-Gulotti, Miraglia) - 1900 * 132. Julius (Jules-Ernest Houssaye, Houssaye) - 1904 * 133. Ludwig (Francois Giraud) - 1911 * 134. Petrus (Gaston Vigué) - 1928 * 135. IRENÄUS (Friedrich Heiler, FRIEDRICH HEILER) - 1930 * 136. Cyrillus (Martin Giebner) - 1941 * 137. Ambrosius (Konrad Minkner) - 1952 * 138. Werner (Ernst Linz) - 1963 * 139. Johannes (Klaus Ewert) - 1964 * 140. Donatus (Albrecht Volkmann) - 1971 * 141. Simeon (Dietrich Schulze) - 1979 * 142. Herman (Herman Miskotte) - 1980 * 143. Joachim (Joachim Nerger) - 1988 * 144. Paulus (Klaus Jacoby) - 1992 * 145. Augustinus (Wolfgang Tischendorf) - 2006 * 146. Innocenz (Konrad Schrieder) - 2012 * 147. Thomas (Bernd Feise) - 2013 * 148. Martin (Friedhelm Bürgener) - 2013

External links

Hochkirchliche Vereinigung Augsburgischen Bekenntnisses e.V.
*

by Leonard Swidler
''Die St. Johannes-Bruderschaft''
by Albrecht Volkmann, Quatember 1954 (p. 172-175) {{Lutheran orders Lutheran orders and societies Lutheranism in Germany Christian organizations established in 1947 1947 establishments in Germany

The Rule

History

Apostolic succession in St. Johannes-Bruderschaft

See also

External links