Lutheran Churches in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Plan Merger A Single Church Is the Only Practicable Solution
GREIFSWALD and SCHWERIN, Germany/GENEVA, 26 June 2006 (LWI) - If all goes as planned, the synods of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg (ELLM) and the Evangelical Church of Pomerania (PEK) will come together in late August for a first common assembly to sign a framework agreement to merge the two churches.
Talks on a possible union began in 2003, with the leadership of the two churches reaching a breakthrough in negotiations early this year. Both church synods have since agreed to the merger in near unanimity.
The territories of the two churches are roughly coextensive with the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which has comprised the northern section of eastern Germany since 1990. But the Mecklenburg church, based in the state's capital of Schwerin, is roughly twice as large in area and membership, some 212,000, as the Pomeranian church, based in Greifswald.
While the territory encompassed by both the church and state of Mecklenburg has not changed much over the centuries, the Pomeranian section of today's federal state and the Pomeranian church reflect only a small remainder of the state's territory before the Second World War. Nearly four fifths of the former territory of Pomerania, an area that was once Prussia's largest church province, are now part of Poland. The name Pomerania was not permitted for use during the years of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) so the church was forced to go by the name of the Evangelical Church of Greifswald.
A Lack of Creedal Differences Crucial to Progress
A lack of creedal differences was crucial to progress in the merger talks. While the Pomeranian church is in fact Lutheran, it is also a member of the Union of Evangelical Churches (UEK), which comprises the 13 member churches of the Arnoldshain Conference and the Evangelical Church of the Union (EKU). Its purpose is to promote the unity of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD).
The different sizes of the two churches and the frequent question of the identity of the Pomeranian section of the state have, on the other hand, not always proved conducive to the merger and have at times slowed negotiations down.
The view that a single Evangelical Lutheran church in Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania is the only practicable solution has, however, now gained currency within both churches. The churches are too small to carry out the tasks of a full regional church on a long-term basis. The two areas are actually very similar; they are both sparsely populated with Rostock being the only city in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with more than 100,000 residents. The state's economy is based chiefly on agriculture and tourism.
The up-and-coming tourism industry on the Baltic coast and the numerous Baltic islands has not, however, been able to prevent Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania from suffering Germany's highest rate of unemployment at just under 19 percent, with a high rate of emigration, particularly from rural areas. Only around 20 percent of today's population of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are now church members, making it particularly difficult to maintain the upkeep of the region's relatively large number of medieval churches, a challenge faced by both of the state's churches.
Although the upcoming merger is the result of a three-year dialogue, the road toward greater cooperation goes back to the mid-1990s. Since that time, the two churches have shared a common women's organization, academy, and church newspaper. The churches have also long since combined their efforts in police ministry, representation before the state government, and in other areas. The two churches have held their Kirchentag (church convention) together, and have already merged their pastoral training programs.
Location of the Bishop's Office to Be Determined
One of the greatest tasks, currently, is to harmonize the structures of the two churches. Their financing systems and a number of regulations still differ so greatly that transitional arrangements will have to be introduced in the relevant areas. While the new united church will be led by a single bishop, the old churches' differing terms of office will make it necessary to find a temporary solution for this as well. The location of the bishop's office will also have to be determined as well as that of the church administration, previously located in Schwerin and Greifswald. A precise timetable for the merger also needs to be developed; 2010 has already been suggested as a possible date for the full merger.
Another matter that is often discussed is whether the merger of the two churches could at some point represent a first step toward an even larger fusion of Lutheran churches in northern Germany to the inclusion of the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church. Talk of a "Northern Church" has been circulating since the 1990s and could become a practicable option over the next two decades.
Both churches are members of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). While the PEK joined in 1956, the ELLM was an original member of the LWF at its founding in Lund, Sweden, in 1947.
(Reported by the PEK spokesperson, Rev. Torsten Amling.)
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(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 140 member churches in 78 countries all over the world, with a total membership of 66.2 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)
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