Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover
| Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover | |
|---|---|
| Type | Landeskirche, member of the Evangelical Church in Germany |
| Classification | Protestant |
| Orientation | Lutheran |
| Associations | Evangelical Church in Germany, United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany, Lutheran World Federation, Confederation of Protestant Churches in Lower Saxony |
| Region | Lower Saxony |
| Members | 2,676,858 (2016) |
| Official website | www |
The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover (German: Evangelisch-lutherische Landeskirche Hannovers) is a Lutheran church body (Landeskirche) in the German state of Lower Saxony and the city of Bremerhaven covering the territory of the former Kingdom of Hanover.
The seat of the Landesbischof (bishop) is the Lower Saxon state capital Hanover. The Marktkirche is the preaching venue of the bishop.
The Church of Hanover is based on the teachings brought forward by Martin Luther during the Reformation. The Church of Hanover is a full member of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and the Confederation of Protestant Churches in Lower Saxony.
The Church of Hanover is a member church of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD), the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe, and of the Lutheran World Federation.
Before the formation of the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover in 1863/1864 there were several regional Protestant churches earlier established by and within the borders of previous principalities and regions, combined as the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814. These churches were (1) the General Diocese of Aurich (1815–1922, since 1863 a subdivision of the all-Hanoverian church), formed in East Frisia when annexed to Hanover, (2) the General Diocese of Bremen-Verden (est. 1651, since 1863 a subdivision of the all-Hanoverian church), comprising the High-Bailiwick of Stade except of the Land of Hadeln, (3) the Lutheran Church of the Land of Hadeln (1525–1885, since 1863 a subdivision of the Hanoverian church) based in Otterndorf, (4) the old-Hanoverian Church (1705-merger of Calenberg [est. 1589] and Lunenburg-Celle [est. 1531] Lutheran state churches with subdivisions of its own), with its consistory based in Hanover city, (4) the Loccum jurisdiction (Bezirk Loccum), (5) the Osnabrück city jurisdiction (Bezirk Osnabrück-Stadt) and (6) the Osnabrück land jurisdiction (Bezirk Osnabrück-Land).
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