wfn.org | Evangelical Church in Germany restructures agencies

[FRANK_IMHOFF.parti@ecunet.org (FRANK IMHOFF)]

Enter the church now and fill the vacuum of indifference

GENEVA, 23 November 1998 (epd/lwi) - In the face of a decrease in
membership in the 24 German Landeskirchen, which make up the Evangelical
Church in Germany (EKD), the Council Chairman Manfred Kock is calling on
Christians to join the church now.

According to Kock, the churches constitute a collective memory which
maintains and passes on the experience of faith and values. He said in his
report at the opening of the EKD synod held in Munster: "The vacuum
created by the present indifference does not immediately become visible,"
because the resources built up over the centuries are not used up at once.
But "once the structures have disappeared, it will be difficult to return
to proved values," he added.

According to the Protestant press service (epd), Kock deplored the fact
that the fear of an aggressive Islam is spreading in Germany. In order to
have a fruitful encounter with other religions, he said, it is necessary
to sharpen one's own profile and be sure of one's roots.

Kock strongly objected to discrimination against foreigners: "There must
be no first-class and second-class people." He also underlined the joint
social statement issued in 1997 by the EKD and the Roman Catholic Church.
Economic performance and social compensation, he said, are the very
pillars of society's stability, and for this reason, the social statement
remains a touchstone also for the new federal government.

The main topic of the synod meeting from 1-6 October in Munster was
diakonia. This topic was chosen on the basis of the 150th anniversary of
the Social Service Agency of the EKD (Diakonisches Werk) and a recent EKD
memorandum on diakonia. At its closing, the synod called for a new culture
of helping. All citizens have the duty to assist the needy, a statement on
the future of diakonia adopted by the delegates stressed.

In the face of globalization, unemployment and budgetary deficits, the
social state, the church and welfare services depend on voluntary
commitments. Diakonia, it is said, is the "outstretched hand of the church
in society." The agency's 450,000 employees and 400,000 volunteers could
mean a strengthening of individual initiatives, social networks and
volunteer services.

The synod spoke up against the deterioration of working conditions such as
the spread of tax-free low-salary contracts and reductions in the level of
salaries and wages. It was proposed that closer ties be established
between the church and diakonia instead of considering the latter a mere
service agency.

Agencies to be put under one roof

One of the most far-reaching decisions had to do with the five development
agencies of the EKD whose budget in 1997 was DMark 418 million ($232.2
million). By January 2000, "Bread for the World," Service Overseas (Dienst
in Ubersee), Association of Protestant Churches and Missions in Germany
(Evangelisches Missionswerk in Deutschland), Protestant Association for
Cooperation in Development (Evangelische Zentralstelle fur
Entwicklungshilfe) and the Churches' Development Service (Kirchlicher
Entwicklungsdienst) will be put under one roof.

This would result in decreased spending of about ten percent of the
administrative costs, which currently stand at DMark 24 million ($13.3
million). However, the largest agency, "Bread for the World," is not
willing to participate in this process but wishes to remain with the
Social Service Agency to which it has been closely related for 40 years.

In 1999, the central budget presented by Stuttgart lawyer Ruth Leuze, will
be DMark 419 million ($ 232.8 million). In addition, there is a special
budget of DMark 26 million ($ 14.4 million) for military chaplaincy. Leuze
foresees a decrease of almost one-third in funds between 1995 and 2000.

^From 1995 to 1997, tax income in the member churches reduced by 9.5
percent. The decrease is due to the high rate of unemployment and
unfavorable demographic developments. The effects of the planned tax
reform are not yet known but the pressure on church funds would continue.

Subsidies for EKD institutions will be considerably curtailed. The
Ecumenical Institute in Bossey near Geneva will no longer receive
subsidies, nor will the Institute for Archeological Studies in Jerusalem.
Manfred Kock called for necessary reforms, especially closer cooperation
between the member churches.

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Lutheran World Information
Assistant Editor, English: Pauline Mumia
E-mail: jbn@lutheranworld.org
http://www.lutheranworld.org/