Status: 07/10/2022 5:37 p.m
The church wedding of Finance Minister Lindner and Franca Lehfeldt on Sylt caused a debate, because neither belong to any church. According to theologian Käßmann, traditional rooms would be degraded to cheap event locations.
The Protestant theologian Margot Käßmann has criticized the wedding of finance minister Christian Lindner and journalist Franca Lehfeldt in a church. “Why do two people want a church wedding who have deliberately left the church and have publicly declared that they do not see themselves as Christians?” asks Käßmann in her column for “Bild am Sonntag”.
The former Council President of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) explained that this was not about Christian content, but about a setting.
According to Käßmann, it is correct that at least one spouse must be a church member for a church wedding to take place.
Image: dpa
Lindner and Lehfeldt were married on Saturday in the St. Severin Church in Keitum by parish pastor Susanne Zingel.
Church shouldn’t do that
Käßmann emphasized that the church should not lend itself to such a wedding. Houses of worship are places where people bring joy and sorrow to God for centuries. Church membership and voluntary work make it possible to preserve these rooms. She also defended canon law, which stipulates that at least one spouse must be a church member for a church wedding to take place.
If there is a legal gap here, it should be closed as soon as possible: “Otherwise we will downgrade our traditional spaces, in which Christians give glory to God, to cheap event locations.”
She also criticized the fact that the philosopher Peter Sloterdijk gave a speech in the wedding service. He once described Christianity as a “failed project”.
“This is unevangelical”
Käßmann’s criticism met with resistance within the church. The Hanoverian regional bishop Petra Bahr accused Käßmann of judging the motives of a couple, even though she was not present at the preparatory wedding ceremony.
Bahr goes on to say that, in principle, there are good reasons to argue about how to deal with such a case. “What I don’t think is possible: defaming the motives of a couple without pastoral involvement. That’s unevangelical.”
“We shouldn’t be stingy with the blessing”
The evangelical bishop of Schleswig and Holstein, Gothart Magaard, also defended the church wedding. Although he conceded that the order of life of the North Church provides that at least one partner should be a member at a wedding. However, exceptions are at the discretion of the pastor. “It’s something wonderful when two people want to be blessed by God,” emphasized the theologian to the Evangelical Press Service.
He has great confidence in how Pastor Zingel prepared the wedding. “We should not be stingy with the blessings. God is a generous God,” the bishop pointed out.
The Evangelical Church of St. Severin in Keitum is one of Sylt’s landmarks with centuries of history and is a popular wedding venue for celebrities.
Image: dpa
A “little socially and morally sensitive luxury wedding”
The Protestant ethics professor Mathias Wirth told the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” that this was a “luxurious wedding of a minister who was not very socially or morally sensitive and who at the same time wanted to reduce the Hartz IV rates for the long-term unemployed”.
Criticism of costs for security operations
The large-scale operation of the police, who were responsible for the security of the numerous prominent wedding guests, also caused discussions. Waste of taxes and an inopportune time for the celebration were discussed on social media.
However, the costs in terms of safety precautions for the taxpayer are not higher than usual, said Heiko Teggatz, deputy federal chairman of the German police union WDR. Political celebrities must always be protected – whether they are at a wedding or elsewhere.
Police officers and sniffer dogs search the churchyard and cemetery of St. Severin Church in Keitum.
Image: dpa
Police officers and sniffer dogs were already searching the churchyard and cemetery of St. Severin Church in Keitum on Saturday morning. Afterwards, the officials stayed on the premises to ensure the security of the event. The forces of the Federal Criminal Police Office were also deployed.
The police had already had to move out to an operation on Friday evening. Around 35 loud people from the punk scene appeared in front of a hotel in Keitum, wanting to disrupt Lindner and Lehfeldt’s wedding party. According to the police, the punks were loud but otherwise peaceful. However, you would have made a mistake in the hotel. Shortly before midnight, the officers gave the group evictions and accompanied them to the train to Westerland.