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Continental European Protestantism

Evangelical Church in Germany

Doctrines		The doctrines of the Evangelical Church in Germany are principally derived from the Augsburg Confession. The central theological principles of the church are that justification is by grace through faith; Scripture is the sole source of authority for the believer; the priesthood of all believers; and the sacraments of baptism, the eucharist and penance.
History		The Lutheran churches in Germany derived from the reform movement initiated by Martin Luther and his supporters. Following the Diet of Augsburg of 1530 Lutheranism spread rapidly throughout as it was supported by various dukes and princes within the region. Until the end of the first world war the Lutheran churches in Germany were closely tied to the monarchy. After the defeat of Germany a republic was established and and the ties between state and church were broken. In 1948 the Lutheran churches, the Reformed churches and the United Churches were united in the Evangelische Kirche Deutschland (the Evangelical Church of Germany) at the Conference of Eisenach. In 1969 the churches in the German Democratic Republic broke away from the EKD and formed the Bund der Evanglischen Kirchen in der DDR (the League of Evangelical Churches in the German Democratic Republic). In June 1991, following German unification, the B.E.K. merged with the E.K.D.
Symbols		The logo of the Evangelical Church of Germany are the capitalised letters EKD which stand for Evangelische Kirche Deutschland.
Adherents		It is not possible to give exact statistical figures since the EKD is a federation of a number of churches.
Headquarters/ Main Centre		Synod of the EKD, 30419 Hannover, Herrenhàuser Str. 12, Germany. >/table>