EKD Press Releases
Main Theme "Changing Climate - Changing Waters - Changing Lives"
Tenth Synod of the EKD meets in Bremen
October 28, 2008
The main theme for this year's meeting of the 10th Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) is "Changing Climate - Changing Waters - Changing Lives". Starting on Sunday, 2 November, its 120 members will gather in Bremen for the seventh meeting, chaired by President Barbara Rinke, the mayoress of Nordhausen (Thuringia). After the opening service in St. Peter's Cathedral in Bremen, Synod members and the members of the EKD Council and Church Conference will be in session until Wednesday, 5 November, in the MARITIM HOTEL & Congress Center of Bremen to discuss current issues in society and the church. The closing service will be held on 5 November in the Church of Our Lady.
The task of the Synod is to discuss and pass resolutions on issues related to the EKD. This includes church legislation as well as proposals from the Council and the Church Conference and, under certain circumstances, also motions and petitions. In their deliberations, the members of the Synod are not bound to follow any instructions. According to the constitution of the EKD, the Synod consists of 120 members. Of these, 100 are elected by the synods of its 23 member churches and 20 are appointed by the Council to take account of persons who are of special importance for the life of the church as a whole and for the work of the church's organizations.
The opening service on Sunday, 2 November, begins at 9.30 a.m. and will be broadcast live on television (ZDF). The sermon will be given by the presiding clergyman of the host church in Bremen, Schriftführer [secretary] Renke Brahms. Following the service, the chairperson of the Council Bishop Wolfgang Huber will present his report to the Synod. As in previous years, the report will consist of two parts. In one part, which will be presented orally, the chairperson will deal with current, important issues in society, politics and the church; the other part, to which the deputy chairperson of the Council Bishop Christoph Kähler will give a short introduction, will be distributed in writing and contains the report on the work of the Council since the last meeting of the Synod. The discussion in the Synod on Sunday will concentrate primarily on the report of the Council.
On Monday, 3 November, the Synod will discuss the main theme chosen at its last meeting, "Changing Climate - Changing Waters - Changing Lives". The president of the Lutheran Church in Brazil Walter Altmann, who is also the moderator of the World Council of Churches, will open the discussion on the main theme with a Bible study on the issues. Angelika Zahrnt, the honorary chairperson of BUND, the Association for Environmental and Nature Conservation in Germany, a member of the German Council for Sustainable Development, will then give an introduction to the theme prior to presentation of the draft statement by the chairperson of the preparatory committee, Ulrike Trautwein.
On Tuesday, 4 November, and Wednesday, 5 November - and perhaps also on Thursday, 6 November - the Synod will be discussing the EKD budget for 2008 as well as some legislation, regulations and amendments to its rules of procedure. Following discussion in the Synod's standing committees, these matters - wherever necessary - and the statement on the main theme are to be adopted by the Synod. The passing of resolutions is planned for Wednesday. At 8 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 November, the Synod will close with a service of Holy Communion in the Church of Our Lady at which the president of the Evangelical Church in Hesse and Nassau, Peter Steinacker, will preach.
Hanover/Bremen, 28 October 2008
Press Office of the EKD
Christof Vetter