Religion in Germany

by Hans H. Waetjen
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 16 No. 2, June 30, 1990

Floyd asked me some time ago to write an article on the state of religion in Germany. With all the latest political developments in East Germany, this information may be even more relevant now. So, I will try to describe today’s religion in Germany as much as I know it from my relatives in Europe and as much as I can remember from growing up there.

Germany's two principal religious denominations are the Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church. Southern Germany, which is closer to Rome, is predominantly Catholic. The northern part of Germany is Lutheran. The boundary between the two denominations runs right through the middle of Germany and is pretty much where the boundary ended up after the 100-year (religious) war. Since then, only a small minority of Catholics have moved north of this denominational boundary, and only a small minority of Lutherans have moved south. A small number of other religious movements within Germany (including the churches of Christ) make up only a tiny minority of the German population and will not be dealt with in this article.

I grew up in a small town with about 70,000 inhabitants, of which about 50,000 belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church (the proper German name of the church, translated into English). The town is located in northern Germany, near Hamburg, the largest city of West Germany, in the Lutheran territory. Below, I will try to describe the religious life of a Lutheran in Germany. In addition, I will include some information about Catholics in West Germany and a little on religion in East Germany.

How to Become a Lutheran in Germany

Lutheran parents are responsible for raising their children in the faith, which includes the requirement for baptism as an infant. This usually takes place before the first birthday. Baptism is scheduled well in advance so many can plan to attend. The ceremony occurs apart from regular church service and is attended by close friends and relatives. The baby is dressed in a long, usually white dress (both boys and girls wear this), which is handed down within the family and often has been used for many generations. During the ceremony, the father and mother bring the baby to the front of the church to a small baptismal basin. The pastor himself has to "baptize" the baby. He does this by sprinkling the head of the baby with a handful of cold water out of the basin, as he says, "I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost." The godfather and godmother, who were selected prior to the ceremony (usually an aunt and uncle), are also present at the ceremony. Their names are recorded on the baptismal certificate along with the baby’s and the parents' names. The godparents would be responsible for raising the child if the parents were unable to do so.

Confirmation is the next important event in the life of a Lutheran. At age 13, all Lutheran children attend church school for two afternoons (1 hour each) per week for two years. Primarily, the gospel according to Matthew and the principles of the Lutheran catechism are covered. Upon completion of this school, confirmation usually takes place. Supposedly, the kids could say "no" at this point, but usually, everyone is confirmed. Confirmation is a big event. Like baptism, it
is attended by many relatives and friends. The church service involves a test where each person to be confirmed has to answer a question concerning faith or the catechism. This test is mostly a formality, and everyone is confirmed thereafter by the pastor. Following the confirmation, communion is taken for the first time (to a Lutheran, confirmation means that you have become an adult church member). The confirmation service is followed by a large celebration at home where the new church member receives many gifts from relatives and friends. When I was confirmed, these gifts consisted of a watch and clothing (I got my first suit and tie). The current trend is that these gifts consist of more and more money. The prospect of obtaining this substantial sum of money as a 15-year-old seems to override the religious significance of the event totally. After confirmation, no more church school or Sunday school is offered by the Lutheran Church in Germany. Most Lutherans do not own a Bible.

Lutheran Church Service

Worship service is held only on Sunday mornings, and no other services are held during the week. Attending church services is not required, and only a few do. For the 50,000 Lutheran members, two churches were in town with a combined seating capacity of less than 900. Usually, for the Sunday service, these churches were about half full (about 1% attendance). All Sundays have specific names given to them based on the life of Christ, and the material from which sermons are developed is fixed for each Sunday and repeats each year. (A pastor only needs 52 sermons?!). Church service is highly structured. It follows a precise liturgy, very similar to the Catholic worship service. Only the pastor leads public prayer and handles all public speaking. There are no deacons or elders in the church. Congregational participation is limited to singing and a sort of chanting. The pastor chants a statement or question about the faith in Latin, and the congregation responds by chanting back in Latin. This chanting is repeated (with identical words) during each worship service. Most people do not know what these Latin words mean that they are chanting. The chanting somewhat reminds me of monks singing in monasteries. Musical instruments do not accompany it. The church organist leads regular songs. The congregation only sings the "soprano" scale and usually lags one or two notes behind the organ. Donations are sometimes requested at the close of the service and are usually for some foreign mission in need of financial help. These contributions do not support the local work (see church administration).

Normally, church service is not an event where you talk to anyone; usually, you do not see anyone you know there. Before the service, the pastor is (meditating?) in a special room, not accessible to the congregation before the service, but may shake hands afterward. He is dressed in a long, dark robe with a huge, white collar. Communion is not offered at each service but only a few times a year. It consists of a round, thin wafer and a sip of wine out of one chalice and is served by the pastor. After each sip, the pastor turns the chalice a bit, but I am sure it makes several complete revolutions before everyone is served. Lutherans do not bring a Bible to church, nor do most of them own one. Even though sermon material is somewhat based on the Bible, no references are given, and no Lutheran would know how to find chapter and verse in the Bible.

Significant Church Events Throughout the Year

Christmas Eve is the most important church event, and many more people attend services. To accommodate this large crowd, 30-minute services are held throughout the day. A huge decorated Christmas tree is set up in the church for the occasion. The service consists of singing Christmas carols, some of which do not have religious motives (Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree, how green are you...). Instead of a sermon, the pastor reads the "Christmas Story" (Luke 2:1 -20). At home, the service is normally followed by the Christmas dinner, during which kids anxiously await the next event: Going into the room decorated for Christmas with the Christmas tree, snacks to eat, and presents. They had not seen the presents before, nor had the tree been decorated prior to the 24th. I heard somewhere that Martin Luther started the Christmas Tree tradition. He was walking through the woods on a winter evening and saw a snow-covered tree sparkling in the moonlight. This apparently gave him the idea to bring a fir tree into the church for the Christmas service and to light it up with candles.

Other important days during the church year are Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day, and Whitsunday (the day of Pentecost). These days are religious holidays in Germany, and at least Easter Sunday and Whitsunday are taken somewhat more seriously regarding church attendance. However, Ascension Day has lost its religious significance. The big event on this day is for men to go on a picnic, and the traditional food and beverage are beer and ham.

Church Administration

The money to run the churches is not collected during worship services but through a 4% payroll deduction. In Germany, when you fill out the equivalent of the W-2 form, you have to declare which denomination (applies only to Catholics and Lutherans) you belong to. This results in an automatic deduction of 4% from your payroll sent to your church's national office. (People who do not claim church membership keep this money.) This national church office disburses the money back to the local churches based on the local budget requirements (not based on the money received from local members). Pastors are on a fixed salary, based on a national pastor pay scale. The organist/choir director receives a salary, and there are other paid staff in the administrative office of the local church. Looking back now, I cannot help but wonder where all the money collected through payroll deductions ends. A rough estimate of what the church receives from members in the town I grew up in is as follows: of the 50,000 members, about 20,000 should have jobs paying about $20,000 per year. 4% of 20,000 members' income produces a total annual contribution of $16 million!

As far as I know, no financial accounting has been done by the local church for the congregation.

Catholics in Germany

Catholics in Germany are not too different from Catholics in this country. They are generally more involved with religious activities than Lutherans and attend services more often. Catholics are more likely to own a Bible but do not read it. They treat it with reverence and awe and associate it with God, but they do not use it to learn about God’s word or plan of salvation. Their priest tells them that Bible interpretation is his job and that only he is able to do this. Catholic churches are usually much more decorated with stained glass windows, sculptures, paintings, and gold than Lutheran churches. The faith of Catholics appears to be a shallow faith, like the faith of a child. For this reason, the church openly discourages higher learning, and only about one-third as many Catholics as Lutherans go to college. Neither Germany's Catholic nor Lutheran church is actively trying to win new members. For this reason, their membership is declining, also because some of the kids leave the faith, and because the birthrate in West Germany has fallen below two children per family.

Religion in East Germany

Like West Germany, East Germany is divided into Catholic and Lutheran areas. Most everything I said about Catholics and Lutherans in West Germany applies in East Germany, except that church attendance is much lower because of political pressure. Since 1933, under Hitler, and from 1946 to the present time under communism, church attendance and church membership have been openly discouraged by the government. For this reason, working men were afraid to attend church since this could directly impact their career, and many families have left the faith. Since the control of the communist regime is weakening, church attendance is slowly increasing.

Even as this material is being set in type, there are brethren in East Germany seeking the means to establish New Testament Christianity in that formerly Communist country.

The Church of Christ in Germany

Even though the above information on Lutherans and Catholics in Germany is incomplete, I suppose you have a good idea that these denominations are far from New Testament teachings. Tradition and their denominational, unscriptural, church leadership have led them far from the truth. During the occupational period after Word War II, several churches of Christ were established in West Germany. Presently, I am aware of nine (9) churches in all of West Germany and none in East Germany. Only nine small churches in an area with a population of about 90 million people is obviously insufficient. I am herewith encouraging preachers to start new works in either West or East Germany. Established churches in the United States should consider supporting these evangelists' efforts and should actively try to recruit able evangelists with a language background in German for this effort.