Freikirchen und Ökumene in der Nachkriegszeit
Two aspects are here discussed of the postwar ecumenical relations between the German Evangelical Churches and the German Free Churches, which had earlier been burdened by much conflict, namely their collaboration in the Evangelical Church Aid, and their efforts in founding the Working Party of Chri...
| Published in: | Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | German |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
1993
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| In: |
Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | Two aspects are here discussed of the postwar ecumenical relations between the German Evangelical Churches and the German Free Churches, which had earlier been burdened by much conflict, namely their collaboration in the Evangelical Church Aid, and their efforts in founding the Working Party of Christian Churches in Germany. In 1945, under the leadership of Eugen Gerstenmaier, the Protestant churches adopted a different concept of how to rebuild church life from that of the World Council of Churches, being keener on cooperation with the Catholics while seeing no place for the much smaller free churches. Only after agreeing to modify their view and to take up the same position as that of the Reconstruction Department of the World Council in Geneva, were steps taken to integrate the free churches in this aid programme. The ecumenical character of the Church Aid's operations took place Under the influence of the W.C.C., and clearly sought to mobilize the assistance of sister organisations amongst the free churches, especially in the English-speaking communities. But the problematical origins of the Evangelical Church Aid, and the lack of sufficient ecumenical motivation on both sides, made any effective collaboration difficult. So too the desire to establish a national Council of Churches in Germany, similar to those already established in Britain or the USA, was largely due to the initiative of the W.C.C.'s staff. The lengthy negotiations, in which Martin Niemöller played a considerable role, are partly explicably by the whole difficult process of trying to establish a new order of church polity in the German Evangelical Churches. On the one side, there were those who supported the view of the W.C.C. and of the free churches that a truly National Council of Churches should be established. But this proved to be an illustion, in view of the opposition from those who disliked any such centralized body, and were prepared to support only a much looser and less binding structure, which finally took shape as the Working Party of Christian Churches. The competency of this body was kept as limited as possible. Its beginnings were characterized by resentments on both sides, through later developments were to have a more positive effect in drawing the Evangelical Churches and the free churches closer together. This essay shows that the ecumenical developments of the postwar period cannot be explained without consideration of the problematical understanding both sides had of what the Ecumenical Movement really stood for. |
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| ISSN: | 2196-808X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte
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