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[German Version] Luther’s marriage with K. v. Bora in 1525 was an action with confessional and political implications of enormous import, not least for the future development of the Protestant pastorate. Building on the tradition of the Early Church, which remained in effect for the lower clergy in the Orthodox churches, it gave concrete expression to a new attitude toward sexuality and sacrality (Sexual ethics): they are not mutually exclusive. Marriage and family are where faith is tested (WA 6,…

[German Version] The pastoral profession exhibits extreme variation both in its historical development and in its denominational realizations throughout the world. The spectrum of its contextually determined structures extends from individuals with no academic training to those who are highly professionalized academically, from people who are poor, disdained, or oppressed to those who enjoy social prestige and wealth, from mandatory singleness to preprogrammed life in an extended family, from acti…

[German Version] I. Concept – II. History – III. Theology – IV. Sociology – V. Law – VI. Statistics I. Concept The term “clergy” refers to persons who are ordained and who are ordinarily called to full-time (recently also part-time or non-stipendiary) service to carry out the preaching office. Etymologically, “clergy” is derived from the Gk kleros, meaning “lot” or “inheritance,” possibly a reference to the tribe of Levi having the Lord as their lot (Deut 18:2). The etymological derivation of the German term Pfarrer is not completely clear. If it is derived from Lat. parricus, “fold…