Kassel – The German Federation of Evangelical-Free Churches is continuing to shrink. It was reported at the church’s annual conference in Kassel that the number of Baptist and Brethren churches within the Federation has dropped by five to 823 in the last year; its number of members declined by 0,5% to 83.285. A total of 1.905 persons were baptised – the lowest number since 1995. The speaker forecast that this trend would continue unabated for the foreseeable future: ‘We will continue to grow smaller.’ Yet some congregations are bucking the trend. During the last 12 years, 187 congregations have increased membership by more than 15%; yet the membership of 323 has diminished by more than 15%. Friedrich Schneider (Oldenburg), head of the Federation’s Department for Congregational Development, noted that alienation between congregations and their national offices is on the increase. Of the Federation’s 690 congregations (without counting daughter and branch congregations), only 386 of them sent delegates to the annual conference in Kassel.

Federation President Hartmut Riemenschneider (Marl) and General-Secretary Regina Claas (Elstal near Berlin) conceded that their church is presently ‘mired in a difficult situation.’ She called on congregations to close ranks – their primary calling is to mission. Suggestions for improving the situation were lofted during the ensuing discussion. It was mentioned that a deep spiritual renewal is needed. One pastor cited ‘insufficient distinction between spiritual and carnal behaviour’ among active church members.

For the first time, a representative of the Baptists who have arrived from Russia addressed the conference. Heinrich Derksen, Rector of Bible Seminary Bonn, suggested that bridges be built between the two groups and a common future developed. His institution is supported heavily by Baptists who have arrived from the former Soviet Union. In the past, these émigrés, who are known as ‘Aussiedler,’ have only had eyes for their own congregations. They thereby contradicted the priestly prayer of Jesus, in which he called on his followers to live in unity. The roughly 450 Baptist and Mennonite congregations of Russian ancestry with a total church attendance of 120.000 are divided into a dozen church unions. Half of these do not belong to any union. Derksen criticised that ‘Aussiedler have in the past unnecessarily isolated and distanced themselves from others.’ They therefore need to develop new attitudes – especially in view of the mission challenge: ‘Germany is a mission field. The land of the Reformation now needs a spiritual awakening and renewal.’ Most Aussiedler congregations are growing because so many of Germany’s 2,5 million ethnic Germans from Russia have been converted. Derksen stated: ‘The Aussiedler are still experiencing a time of harvest.’

Also for the first time in many years, a delegation from Holland’s Baptist Union visited the conference. Helle Liht from the European Baptist Federation in Prague, and guests from Africa also attended.

The German Federation hopes to stabilise its financial situation by increasing the recommended contribution per member. The Council of the Federation resolved to increase the recommended contribution per member for the coming year by 6 euros to 57 euros (+ 11,7 %). In the former provinces of East Germany, that contribution is to be increased to 48 euros (+ 14,3 %). The Federation had a deficit of 470.000 euros last year; 250 of its 830 congregations contributed less than recommended. In discussions, some speakers warned about the danger of opening the back door to a mandatory ‘church tax’ patterned on the state church model. Brethren congregations make up roughly 10% of the Federation’s membership.