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The North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church (German: Nordelbische Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche; NEK) was a Lutheran regional churchinNorthern Germany which emerged from a merger of four churches in 1977 and merged with two more churches in 2012. The NEK largely covered the area of the states of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg where it was the most important Christian denomination. It had 2.1 million members (as of 2006) in 595 parishes, constituting 46% of the population in its ambit.
In May 2012 the NEK, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg and the Pomeranian Evangelical Church merged into Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany.[1]
The NEK was a full member of the Protestant Church in Germany (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, EKD), the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany (VELKD), and the Lutheran World Federation (joined 1977).[2] The church was also a member of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe.
The North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church was founded in 1977 by the merger of four former state churches:
It is named after its ambit mostly located north of the River Elbe. In 1992 Maria Jepsen was the first woman to become a bishop in the North Elbian Evangelical Lutheran Church. At Pentecost 2012 it merged with the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Mecklenburg and the Pomeranian Evangelical Church to form the new Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany.
The most prominent church buildings and sees of the bishops were Schleswig Cathedral, Lübeck Cathedral and St. MichaelisinHamburg.
Ordination of women and blessing of same-sex unions were allowed.[citation needed]
The preaching venue of the bishop was the new St. Nicholas Church (till 1987) and thereafter St. Michael's.
The preaching venue of the bishop was the Lübeck Cathedral.
The preaching venue of the bishop was the Schleswig Cathedral.
The preaching venue of the bishop is the St. Michaelis Church, Hamburg.
The preaching venue of the bishop is the Schleswig Cathedral.