The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony () is one of 20 member Churches of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD), covering most of the state of Saxony. Its headquarters are in Dresden, and the seat of the bishop (styled Bishop of Saxony)The Bishop's title on his/her own home page . is at Meissen Cathedral. Prior to the propagation of state atheism in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), it was the largest Evangelical Lutheran church in Germany.Sebastian Müller-Rolli in collaboration with Reiner Anselm: Evangelische Schulpolitik in Deutschland 1918–1958: Dokumente und Darstellung (Eine Veröffentlichung des Comenius-Instituts Münster). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1999, , S. 29.
The church has 575,504 parishioners in 314 parishes (as of December 31, 2024).
History Historically, the church's organisation became an example for other Protestant churches to be founded throughout Europe, the so-called "Saxon model" of a church as introduced by Martin Luther. It was closely tied to the state, whereby the Elector of Saxony protected the evangelical faith in his jurisdiction. Since the Reformation, the Lutheran orthodoxy (the "purest form" of Lutheranism) prevailed among the general population in Saxony and was secured first by its Ernestine and later Albertine Wettin rulers. Beginning in the 17th century, Pietism also gained a significant following, especially among the working class.
In 2019, Carsten Rentzing, bishop of the church since 2015, resigned his position after controversy arose about his connections to far-right parties and groups.
Bishops 1922–1933: Ludwig Heinrich Ihmels 1933–1945: Friedrich Otto Coch 1945–1947: Franz Lau 1947–1953: Hugo Hahn 1953–1971: Gottfried Noth 1971–1994: Johannes Hempel 1994–2004: Volker Kreß 2004–2015: Jochen Bohl 2015–2019: Carsten Rentzing since 2020: Tobias BilzEvangelisch.de: Tobias Bilz
Parishioners 1922: 4,509,000,Sebastian Müller-Rolli in collaboration with Reiner Anselm, Evangelische Schulpolitik in Deutschland 1918–1958: Dokumente und Darstellung, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1999, (=Eine Veröffentlichung des Comenius-Instituts Münster), p. 29. . the largest Lutheran church in Germany at that time 2012: 764,000 2013: 754,451The Lutheran World Federation – 2013 Membership Figures Lutheran World 2015: 713,648Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland - Kirchemitgliederzahlen Stand 31.12.2015 EKD Januar 2017 2017: 689,858Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland - Kirchemitgliederzahlen Stand 31.12.2017 ekd.de 2018: 677,064Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland – Kirchemitgliederzahlen Stand 31. Dezember 2018 EKD, January 2020 2019: 663,525Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland – Kirchemitgliederzahlen Stand 31. Dezember 2019 EKD, October 2020 2020: 647,238Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland – Kirchemitgliederzahlen Stand 31. Dezember 2020 EKD, November 2021
Practices Ordination of women and blessing of same-sex unions were allowed.Evlks.de:„Segnung von Paaren in Eingetragener Lebenspartnerschaft“ in Sachsen möglich (German) , 18 October 2016
Notes
External links Evangelical Lutheran Church of Saxony (English) German