Word: synods
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Last week, at 80, Dibelius prepared to retire, and at his farewell appearance before the synod of his church, he once again stressed unity: "The most important thing is that we regard ourselves as one." The delegates took heed in deciding the delicate question before them: whom to elect as his successor...
...colleagues - as when he announced that as a Christian he did not feel obligated to obey even the speed laws of the godless East German regime - and there were many who felt that his intransigence made life still harder for E.K.D. pastors under Communist control. The question before the synod: Should the delegates vote to continue Dibelius' policies by electing his deputy, Bishop Hanns Lilje, 61, an able preacher and administrator whose name is anathema to the Communists? Or should they find a candidate less provocative to the Reds...
...Meeting in West Berlin's Spandau Johannesstift Building, the synod's 79 West German and 41 East German delegates had ample provocation to slap back at the Reds by choosing Lilje. The East German regime had just announced that no sessions of the annual Protestant rally, called Kirchentag, could be held in East Berlin next July, and had stopped Bishop Lilje and four other West German bishops on their way to a Sunday service at the Marienkirche. But the delegates decided that the immediate pleasure of electing Bishop Lilje might be offset by Communist reprisals during...
Then, after three ballots and six interruptions for caucusing, the synod offered encouragement to the East-Zone faithful by electing the first resident of East Germany to hold the highest post in German Protestantism - Dr. Curt Scharf of East Berlin...
...vigorous anti-Nazi during the Hitler regime, Curt Scharf, 58, was arrested numerous times and was rarely allowed to write or preach. Since 1945, he has been chairman of the Brandenburg Synod and is well known throughout Germany for his work in preparing the Kirchentag staged by the Evangelical Church to draw Protestants from all over the country...