About us
Berlin Stadtmitte (Berlin City Centre) is one of the 33 regional districts of the United Church of Berlin, Brandenburg, and Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO), a member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). Our church is part of the mainline Lutheran and Presbyterian tradition going back to Germany’s former state churches and the origins of the Reformation. Today, the congregations of the district of Berlin Stadmitte cover the neighborhoods of Mitte, Tiergarten, Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain, and Kreuzberg, some of the densest, most vibrant, and most diverse urban areas in Germany.
What we believe
We believe that Christian faith is trust in God’s grace as Jesus preached it and as he demonstrated it through his life and death. Faith is less about insisting upon the truth of immutable doctrines and more about finding and forging a living relationship with God. Our faith teaches us that God loves and accepts us regardless of what we accomplish or achieve.
Our church is a church for everyone in Berlin – every age, every background, every income level, every sexuality, every gender; for the devout and the doubtful; for those who need help and for those called to give it. Our faith is nourished through prayer, singing, preaching, and celebrating the sacraments. It is strengthened through our work in the community. Through the bonds we forge with one another, we are empowered to guide each other, ask critical questions of our faith, and refresh and renew it over and over again.
Congregations
Berlin Stadtmitte is made up of 21 neighborhood parishes with about eighty thousand members. It also includes Berlin Cathedral, whose congregants come from every corner of the Berlin region, as well as congregations serving Berlin’s student population and the French Reformed congregation in Berlin.
Church life and work
In addition to its congregations, the district covers Protestant kindergartens, elementary and high schools, and a number of charitable agencies. It maintains cemeteries in within its borders, themselves an important part of Berlin’s green spaces. It also includes regional church administrative bodies and a wide range of projects, partnerships, and agencies active in the spiritual life and society of central Berlin. Our work both in parish life and beyond is described througout these pages.
Governance
In keeping with the principles of the reformation, the governance of the district is democratically organized. The governing body of the district is the District Synod, which meets twice a year, and the District Council conducts the day-to-day business of the district. Both the Synod and the Council are elected from ordinary church members, ordained ministers, and non-ordained church staff. The District Synod elects representatives to the Church Synod, the highest governing body of the EKBO.
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