!!!Evangelische Kirche Augsburgischen und Helvetischen Bekenntnisses A. u. H. B

Protestant Church, Augsburg and Helvetic Confession: Joseph II's  
Edict of Tolerance and all following imperial decrees for the 
regulation of ecclesiastical affairs of the Protestants 
("non-Catholics") in Austria were directed at Lutheran and Reformed 
groups. The church constitution of 1861 provided for a supreme church 
council as the sovereign church authority. The internal organisation 
was divided by confession. It was through unionist tendencies promoted 
by liberalism, that it became possible for parishes of the Augsburg 
and Helvetic confessions to be open to members of either confession; 
this made it possible to overcome the situation of Diaspora in its 
most extreme form and to achieve the otherwise impossible union of 
these two churches. This idea of unionism was realised in the draft 
Church Constitution of 1931, which provided for a unified organisation 
while some Reformed Church characteristics (separate superintendents) 
were preserved.

\\
The Church Constitution of 1949 pursued a different objective, 
providing for a large measure of administrative, financial and 
doctrinal independence of the Augsburg and Helvetic churches, while 
the union of the two confessions to form one "church" was also 
regarded as a theological fact. This united church represents the 
faithful to the outside world, it is responsible for religious 
instruction and holds the power of ecclesiastical legislation through 
the general synod. The Constitution is based on the 
presbyterian-synodal principle, where the parish is the fundamental 
element of organisation, and it is within the parish that the 
rectorate is determined.

\\
Under the Protestant law of 1961 the state recognises the Church of 
the Augsburg and Helvetic confessions side by side with the two 
individual Churches of the  Augsburg Confession and the  Helvetic 
Confession as corporations under public law. By 1940 the Protestant 
Church had started to open the door to women who wished to hold 
ecclesiastical offices and in 1980 full equality of female and male 
office-holders was achieved.

\\
Various incorporated Church Services ("Werke der Kirche"') are closely 
connected with the Church, mainly the "Internal Mission" ("Diakonie"), 
services for certain groups of members (young people, women), the 
maintenance of schools and specific tasks in the field of 
evangelisation etc.

!Literature
D. Knall (ed.), Auf den Spuren einer Kirche, 1987.


%%language
[Back to the Austrian Version|AEIOU/Evangelische_Kirche_Augsburgischen_und_Helvetischen_Bekenntnisses_A._u._H._B.|class='wikipage austrian']
%%

[{FreezeArticle author='AEIOU' template='Lexikon_1995_englisch'}]
[{ALLOW view All}][{ALLOW comment All}][{ALLOW edit FreezeAdmin}]