Bad Herrenalb (dpa / lsw) - Believers in the Protestant state church in Baden will be able to use new forms of community life in the future. The state synod, in a sense the church parliament, passed a law on special church forms and initiatives at the autumn conference in Bad Herrenalb (Calw district). According to information from Thursday, these should offer flexible opportunities for development and participation. The church hopes to be able to meet the needs of the people even better in this way. These new forms of community life should expressly not compete with existing communities.
The law makes it possible for members of other churches or people who are not (yet) church members to work in congregations and for tasks to be distributed differently. This is possible, for example, in a "regional municipality". "The hallmark of the new community forms is a number of members that promises regular church services and a lively community life," said the regional church.
Furthermore, the state synod passed a declaration on peace ethics in the wake of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine: "As the Evangelical State Church in Baden, we remain on the path to a just peace. At the same time, we see the moral dilemmas," it says. "Our task as a church is to do everything in our power to keep channels of communication open in times of crisis, to support those who are struggling for peaceful solutions, to provide concrete humanitarian aid, to provide safe spaces and refuge for the traumatized and those who have fled and to prepare the ground for searching and finding ways of reconciliation." In 2013, the synod drew up a resolution on peace ethics, which, according to the information, was taken up in the discussion of many other regional churches and has now been renewed.
Around 1.06 million people belonged to the state church in Baden as of New Year’s Eve 2021 – almost 30,650 fewer than a year earlier. The constant losses are one reason why new forms and ways of church work are being sought. Since the spring, Heike Springhart (47) has been the first woman to hold the office of state bishop of Baden.
