Evangelical Church of Augsburg Confession in Poland
| Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland | |
|---|---|
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| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Lutheranism |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Bishop of the Church | Jerzy Samiec |
| Associations |
Conference of European Churches, Lutheran World Federation, Polish Ecumenical Council, World Council of Churches |
| Region | Poland |
| Origin | 16th century |
| Members | 70.000 |
| Official website | Official website |
The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland (Polish: Kościół Ewangelicko-Augsburski w Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej) is a Lutheran denomination and the largest Protestant body in Poland with about 70,000 members and 133 parishes.
The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession is rooted in the Reformation. The first Lutheran sermons were held in 1518, and in 1523 the first Lutheran dean, Johann Heß, was called to the city of Breslau, whence Lutheranism was spread into the Polish lands. Today the Church has its primary adherents in the Polish part of Cieszyn Silesia.
The church in Poland suffered during and after World War II. The ranks of pastors, teachers and other church leadership were somewhat diminished by persecution, imprisonment, and death. During the early postwar years, a number of church properties were taken over for other purposes, and the connections of Protestant Lutheranism to the German cultural sphere made authorities and Polish locals inimical towards the Lutherans left. Gradually, the Evangelical Church of Augsburg Confession in Poland has been reshaped into an active body. On 12 October 2008, Polish president Lech Kaczyński—himself of the Catholic faith—visited the Lutheran Protestant Jesus Church in Cieszyn, becoming the first Polish president who ever visited a Protestant place of worship.
The church's six dioceses form a wide swath from north to south down the middle of Poland—from Warmia-Masuria and Gdańsk in the north, near the Baltic, to the region west and southwest of Kraków in the south, toward the Czech Republic border. Direct descendants of Reformation forebears live in the south, around Upper Silesia.
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