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[German Version] (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen; ACK). Founded in 1948 by, then, seven member churches (Evangelical Church in Germany [EKD], Old Catholic Church and five Protestant free churches), the ACK corresponds in function to national Christian councils or ecumenical councils in other countries. Legallly, it is a registered association. Its tasks include the promotion of information exchange, the cooperation of its members, and the representation of …

[German Version] I. Concept The concept of the people’s church ( Volkskirche) plays a prominent role in debate on ecclesial conceptions, notably in German Protestantism. It is first attested in the writings of F.D.E. Schleiermacher in 1822/1823 (cf. Die christliche Sitte, ed. L. Jonas, 1843, 569) – in demarcation from the state church (requiring membership), and from a voluntary church based on subjective choice. While the New Testament gave a transnational interpretation of the church in its talk of the people of God (1 Pet 2:9f.), the subsequent historical…

[German Version] The Union Evangelischer Kirchen in der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland (UEK), comprising the nine united regional churches (Unions, Church: I) of Anhalt, Baden, Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia, Bremen, Hesse and Nassau, in Middle Germany, Electoral Hesse-Waldeck, the Palatinate, in Rhineland, in Westphalia, the two Reformed churches (Evangelical-Reformed and Lippe), and the Lutheran Pommersche Evangelische Kirche is an outgrowth of the merger of the Evangelische Kirc…