A Church with a distinct identity

With around 342,000 members in 329 parishes, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick is one of the smaller of the 20 regional churches within the Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD). It extends from Bad Harzburg in the south to the districts of Wolfsburg in the north, from Bad Gandersheim and part of the district of Peine in the west to Helmstedt in the east.

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the enclaves of Blankenburg in east Harz and Calvörde east of Wolfsburg also joined the Church. The Church maintains 1,400 often historically valuable buildings such as Brunswick Cathedral (12th century) or the principal Wolfenbüttel church Beatae Mariae Virginis (early 17th century).

The bishop is Dr. Christoph Meyns. He was elected to this office by the synod in 2013. 3,500 employees work in the various areas of the Church – from organists to administrators. There are as many employees again working in the Church’s different social welfare organisations.

There are some 16,000 volunteers working for the Church in the 12 regional priories, roughly 11,000 of whom are women. Without this voluntary work, a lively community life would not be possible. Around 250 clergywomen and men take care of the parishes and perform general church duties (for instance pastoral hospital care, youth work or marriage, family and life counselling). Women account for one third of the clergy.

Each year, 20,000 church services and 2,500 children’s services are held in the churches belonging to Brunswick Church. Some 3,400 young people from all over the region, from Harz to Heide, are confirmed and the church registers record around 2,500 christenings. Around 800 people celebrate a church wedding every year and more than 5,000 receive a church burial.

Whilst around 3,000 people leave the Church every year, there are almost 1,000 re-joining it every year. The special church admission offices also play an important role here.

At two central locations, in Brunswick and Goslar (see page 23), people can easily become a member of the Evangelical Church. In doing so, they document that the Christian faith still has meaning for people both privately and in society as a whole. It is also possible for admissions to take place at any of the parish offices.