study
Church ties and religiosity are declining
The moon in the morning light behind a cross on a church tower. photo
© Bernd Weißbrod/dpa
At the synod meeting of the Evangelical Church it became clear that church members want change. According to a forecast, the number of religiously unaffiliated people is increasing.
According to a survey, church ties and religiosity are declining significantly in Germany. This is the result of the sixth church membership survey (KMU) of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD).
It was presented at the synod meeting EKD in Ulm. “The relationship with the church is increasingly determined by the individual,” said Volker Jung, Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the EKD-KMU, at the presentation.
43 percent of people in Germany have no religion
According to the study, the group of non-religious people is growing. At the time of the study, 43 percent of people in Germany were non-religious. 23 percent were Protestant and 25 percent were Catholic. According to the study, 9 percent belonged to other religious communities. If the development continues, non-religious people would probably exceed the 50 percent mark by 2027.
Nevertheless, the goal is not to become more, said Council President Annette Kurschus afterwards. Church must radiate hope and strength, then more people will feel attracted again.
Churches should fundamentally change
According to the study, both church ties and religiosity are declining. In addition, the profiles of members of different denominations become similar. They therefore expect their church to change fundamentally. Accordingly, 80 percent of Protestant and 96 percent of Catholic church members think so. In addition to religious communication, they also expect their church to comment on socio-political situations.
The EKD church office was responsible for coordinating the church membership investigation. More than 5,000 people were surveyed between October and December 2022. Data on the subject of church membership has been collected since 1972. What is new in the current study is that the respondents included not only Protestant church members and non-religious people, but also Catholics and members of other religious communities.
As an umbrella organization of 20 regional churches, the EKD represents 19.2 million Protestant Christians in Germany. Also on the agenda for Tuesday was a report from the Sexual Violence Participation Forum.