The Protestant Church in Bavaria expects a loss of income of up to 30 percent compared to the level of 2019 by 2030. The chairman of the finance committee of the regional synod, Joachim Pietzcker, said on Monday in Geiselwind, Lower Franconia. At that time, around 960 million euros had been collected. In view of this development, it must be considered what the future of the Protestant regional church could look like. “We will not call for a freeze on the employment of theological staff,” he announced. Saving is important, however. The Corona crisis also had a negative impact on the finances of the Evangelical Church.
For 2021, the regional church expects a minus of around 32 million euros, in 2022 a surplus of 35 million euros should be on the books. The main source of income are still the church taxes in the amount of 779 million euros – that is 81 percent of the estimated total income of 962 million euros. For the coming year, the Synod expects expenditure of 927 million euros.
In her address at the beginning of the autumn conference, the President of the Regional Synod, Annekathrin Preidel, called for the increasingly scarce means to be seen as an opportunity. Perhaps the corona pandemic has also changed our view of what really counts. “A lot of money makes a lot of things easier,” explained Preidel: “But a lot of money also prevents creativity.” With full coffers one might succumb to the danger of not appreciating anything that the church has to offer.
Preidel emphasized that at this point the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria could “certainly learn from the partner churches that have fewer than us”. In the pandemic in particular, people learned “to be grateful for every real encounter”. It is precisely the “economic shortage” that can direct the mind to “what really counts”. Man does not live “from bread alone”, God has always made sure that people have a future, “no matter how poor the present may be”.
The synod is one of four governing organs of the Bavarian regional church. It is elected for a period of six years and has far-reaching powers, decides on the budget of the regional church, passes laws and elects the regional bishop. The autumn synod is still in session until Thursday. There are around 2.3 million Protestant Christians in Bavaria.