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        <title>Christian Daily International | Germany</title>
        <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/germany</link>
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            <title>Christian Daily International | Germany</title>
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        <copyright>Christian Daily International © 2026</copyright>
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        <lastBuildDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2026 05:25:31 -0500</lastBuildDate>
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                <title><![CDATA[German Christian broadcaster ERF and German Bible Society to launch joint Bible app in 2027]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/german-christian-broadcaster-erf-and-german-bible-society-to-launch-joint-bible-app-in-2027</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/german-christian-broadcaster-erf-and-german-bible-society-to-launch-joint-bible-app-in-2027</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Christoph Rösel, left, of the German Bible Society and Christian Kolb of ERF. The two organizations plan to launch a joint Bible app in mid-2027.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ ERF ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Christoph Rösel, left, of the German Bible Society and Christian Kolb of ERF. The two organizations plan to launch a joint Bible app in mid-2027. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Sun, 01 Nov 2026 13:14:00 -0500</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[The Christian media organization ERF – Der Sinnsender and the German Bible Society are developing a free Bible app together, with a launch planned for mid-2027, the two organizations said in a joint press release.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
The Christian media organization ERF – Der Sinnsender and the German Bible Society are developing a free Bible app together, with a launch planned for mid-2027, the two organizations said in a joint press release.
The app will offer short devotional prompts meant to help people make Bible reading part of their daily routines, according to the partners. Selected users will test early versions and help shape the final product.
"The free offering is intended to give people simple, contemporary access to the Bible and to support them in discovering biblical texts in their everyday lives," said Christoph Rösel, general secretary of the Stuttgart-based German Bible Society, known in German as Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.
Each partner brings different strengths to the project. Rösel said the Bible society would supply its theological and editorial expertise, its translations and networks, and its long record of encouraging Bible reading.
ERF, whose name stands for Evangeliums-Rundfunk, will contribute experience in digital product development, technology, infrastructure and fundraising, said Christian Kolb, a managing member of the organization's executive board. He said the two partners together draw more than 1.5 million visitors a month across their platforms.
Kolb said the aim was a widely used app that would "meaningfully complement" the services both organizations already provide.
Work on the app begins in the final months of 2026. Its planned release falls in the 25th anniversary year of ERF Bibleserver, an online Bible platform the Wetzlar-based broadcaster has run since 2002, the press release said.
Timotheus Israel, who leads the ERF Bibleserver unit, said many people rely on the website for personal study.
"With the app, we want to expand the offering and make it easier to get started reading the Bible," Israel said. Brief devotional content that fits into ordinary days would be central to that approach, he added.
Manuel Stemmler, head of the German Bible Society's digital department, said readers trust the quality of the society's Bible editions and study materials.
"The joint app creates moments in everyday life in which people encounter the Bible personally," Stemmler said.
Test phases are planned during development, in which participants can comment on the app's features, content and ease of use. The organizations said that input would guide adjustments to the app in stages so that it matches what its intended users need.
The German Bible Society's existing digital services and ERF Bibleserver will continue to operate independently of the new app, according to the release.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[Nearly 1 in 3 Germans favor uniting Protestant and Catholic churches, poll finds]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/nearly-1-in-3-germans-favor-uniting-protestant-and-catholic-churches-poll-finds</link>
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                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[A church tower rises above the village of Oberreute in the Allgäu region of Bavaria, Germany.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ iStock/Moritz Kertzscher ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ A church tower rises above the village of Oberreute in the Allgäu region of Bavaria, Germany. Nearly a third of Germans say the country’s Protestant and Catholic churches should unite, according to a survey commissioned by the German evangelical magazine IDEA. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Wed, 28 Oct 2026 14:11:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Nearly a third of Germans say the country's Protestant and Catholic churches should merge, according to a new poll reported by the German evangelical magazine IDEA. Catholics were the most supportive of any Christian group surveyed.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
Nearly a third of Germans say the country's Protestant and Catholic churches should merge, according to a new poll reported by the German evangelical magazine IDEA. Catholics were the most supportive of any Christian group surveyed.
The survey, carried out for IDEA by the polling institute INSA-Consulere, found that 31% of respondents agreed the two churches should unite. A slightly larger share, 34%, disagreed. Another 28% said they did not know, and 7% gave no answer.
Views divided along confessional lines. Catholics backed a merger by a clear margin, while Protestants in both the regional churches and the smaller free churches were more likely to oppose it. The poll was taken as Germany's two largest churches continue to report membership losses that have left them representing less than half the population.
Catholics in favor, Protestants opposed
Among Catholic respondents, 44% supported a union and 30% opposed it. Members of the regional churches — the mainline Protestant bodies that make up the Evangelical Church in Germany, known as the EKD — leaned the other way, with 35% in favor and 42% against.
Opposition was strongest among free church members, a category that includes independent evangelical congregations. Half of them rejected a merger, while 39% favored one.
Women were somewhat more open to the idea than men, at 33% compared with 29%. By age, the youngest and oldest respondents were the most supportive. Among 18- to 29-year-olds and among those over 70, 35% favored a merger. The lowest level of support, 24%, came from people aged 60 to 69, with the remaining age groups falling between 28% and 33%.
INSA polled 2,010 German citizens online from Oct. 23-26, IDEA reported. Respondents were asked to give their view of the statement that the Protestant and Catholic churches should unite.
According to IDEA, the results are representative of Germany's adult population and also by gender, age and region.
Two churches in long-term decline
Both churches have been losing members for decades. In April 2025, Christian Daily International reported that people with no religious affiliation had for the first time outnumbered Catholics and Protestants combined. Data for 2024 from the research group Fowid put the unaffiliated at 47% of the population, compared with 45% for the two churches together.
Each church lost roughly 580,000 members in 2024, according to that report. Fowid also found that only 5% of Germans attend a religious service at least once a month.
The decline continued last year. The EKD reported about 17.4 million members at the end of 2025, a drop of 3.2% from the previous year. The Catholic Church in Germany counted about 19.2 million, down from 19.8 million. Combined, the two churches represented about 44% of the population, Christian Daily International reported in September.
Growth in a smaller evangelical body
Some evangelical groups report movement in the opposite direction. The Federation of Free Evangelical Churches in Germany, known by its German initials FeG, said in August that baptisms on profession of faith in its congregations rose from 1,491 to 2,624 over four years, an increase of about 76%.
The federation's comparison begins in 2021, when public health restrictions limited church gatherings and baptisms in Germany. It counted 40,933 members in 504 congregations at the end of 2025.
Those numbers remain small in a country of about 84 million people. Evangelicals as a whole are estimated to make up around 2% of Germany's population.
The question put to respondents in the IDEA survey did not specify what form a union of the two churches would take or how it might be achieved.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[German Free Evangelical federation elects first general secretary under new structure]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/german-free-evangelical-federation-elects-first-general-secretary-under-new-structure</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/german-free-evangelical-federation-elects-first-general-secretary-under-new-structure</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Sascha Rützenhoff was elected the first general secretary of the Federation of Free Evangelical Churches in Germany and takes office Jan. 1, 2027.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ FeG ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Sascha Rützenhoff was elected the first general secretary of the Federation of Free Evangelical Churches in Germany and takes office Jan. 1, 2027. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2026 16:46:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[The Federation of Free Evangelical Churches in Germany has elected longtime staff leader Sascha Rützenhoff as its first general secretary, a post created as part of a restructuring of the denomination's national leadership.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
The Federation of Free Evangelical Churches in Germany has elected longtime staff leader Sascha Rützenhoff as its first general secretary, a post created as part of a restructuring of the denomination's national leadership.
Delegates at a special federal assembly in Coburg, in the Franconia region of Bavaria, chose Rützenhoff for a six-year term on Saturday, the federation, known by its German abbreviation FeG, said in a press release. The meeting also filled four of five new leadership posts overseeing ministry "focus areas."
The elections put into practice structural changes approved at the federation's regular assembly in Solingen on Sept. 25-26. Under the new model, the federation's national secretaries become regional secretaries concentrating on church development, while focus areas organize work that cuts across departments. The federation comprises 504 independent congregations with 40,933 members.
Rützenhoff will join President Henrik Otto and Managing Director Guido Sadler in a three-member executive leadership on Jan. 1, 2027. That team forms part of a wider extended leadership body.
A member of the federation's leadership for 14 years, Rützenhoff has headed its domestic mission department, FeG Inland-Mission, as a federal secretary since 2013.
'An enabler'
In remarks to delegates, Rützenhoff said he takes Jesus as his model for leadership. Titles, positions and recognition matter less than a willingness to accept responsibility in service to others, he said.
"I see myself as an enabler," Rützenhoff said, according to the federation. He compared the national office to a Formula 1 pit crew, in which specialists work toward one goal: getting the driver back on the track quickly. The shared mission should take priority over the interests of individual departments, he said. Church life, he added, takes place in local congregations, and the national headquarters should serve them.
"I want to help ensure that the FeG Federation is and remains this: a community of life and service," Rützenhoff said. He asked delegates to extend him trust as the new office takes shape.
Otto said the search began well before the nomination and weighed both internal and external candidates. The federation looked for someone theologically articulate, experienced in leadership and personnel management, familiar with the different streams within the movement and able to guide change, he said.
Thomas Koch of the federation's personnel committee cited Rützenhoff's strategic ability, management experience and network of contacts. His knowledge of the churches and national structures would allow him to begin without a long orientation period, Koch said.
Wider leadership appointed
Earlier in the day, the federation's standing committee elected leaders to six-year terms for four of the new focus areas. Katharina Steinhauer will lead church planting, Dirk Ahrendt evangelism, Bernd Kanwischer church development and Merle Schwarz leadership development.
No candidate was nominated for the fifth area, which focuses on reaching young people. The federation's leadership will arrange an interim solution, according to the press release.
Founded in 1874 and headquartered in Witten, the federation belongs to the Association of Evangelical Free Churches and the Council of Christian Churches in Germany. It is also associated with the Evangelical Alliance in Germany. Otto has served as president since 2024.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA['Considerable concern' among Christians after AfD's election victory in Germany, evangelical body says]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/considerable-concern-among-christians-after-afd-s-election-victory-in-germany-evangelical-body-says</link>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.christiandaily.com/news/considerable-concern-among-christians-after-afd-s-election-victory-in-germany-evangelical-body-says</guid>
                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[Chris Eyte]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Alice Weidel, Ulrich Siegmund]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ (Photo by Omer Messinger/Getty Images) ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ (L-R) Co-Chairwoman of the Bundestag AFD faction Alice Weidel, Ulrich Siegmund, lead candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Co-Chairman of the Bundestag AFD faction Tino Chrupalla celebrate a first exit poll win to AFD at the Messe trade fair halls following state elections in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6, 2026 in Magdeburg, Germany. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Tue, 08 Sep 2026 19:13:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[A German evangelical leader has called for a measured response among Christians after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a decisive victory in Sunday's state election in Saxony-Anhalt, falling just short of an outright majority.]]></description>
                <content:encoded><![CDATA[
A German evangelical leader has called for a measured response among Christians after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a decisive victory in Sunday's state election in Saxony-Anhalt, falling just short of an outright majority.
Preliminary results showed the AfD winning 43.8% of the vote, far ahead of the conservative CDU's 17.2%, the BBC reported. The party is on track for 39 of 83 seats in the state parliament — three short of a majority — leaving mainstream parties, all of which have refused to join an AfD-led coalition, to negotiate a way forward.
Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD's leader in Saxony-Anhalt, called the result "sensational" and said the party had won a mandate to govern, according to the BBC.
In a statement issued Sept. 3, days before the vote, AfD federal spokespeople Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel had urged supporters to turn out, framing the election as decisive for the country's future.
"Look at Saxony-Anhalt! Because the future of Germany is at stake there. The AfD in Saxony-Anhalt has formulated a clear goal for winning the election: They want to enforce existing laws — for example, regarding illegal migration — and ensure that Germany remains a livable place. The other parties have failed to correct the mistakes of recent years, for example, concerning the energy transition and education policy, and show little interest in a genuine change of course."
By 2 p.m., 54.4% of votes had already been cast, compared with 27.1% at the same point in the June 2021 election, the Landtag reported. Final turnout reached 77.8%, according to the BBC. About 1.7 million people were called upon to vote.
Johann Matthies, political representative of the German Evangelical Alliance (Evangelische Allianz in Deutschland/EAD) in Berlin, told Christian Daily International that the evangelical group is concerned about the AfD's victory. He considered it important to reflect on the narrative shown by the election result.
First, Matthies said a "striking political reality" is apparent — namely that a party that has never held government responsibility in Saxony-Anhalt has received more than twice as many votes as the governing party, which has now fallen into second place.
"This represents an extraordinary loss of trust and cannot simply be dismissed as a protest vote," Matthies said.
"Politics is about seeking solutions to concrete problems. Evidently, a very large number of people no longer trust those who have governed until now to take these problems seriously enough or to solve them."
Matthies reported hearing of "considerable concern" from Christians in Saxony-Anhalt.
"They worry about social cohesion and about whether their state may fall further behind economically in the years ahead," he said. "At the same time, such an election result causes concern among Germany's international partners. Germany is being watched very closely from abroad."
Matthies called on evangelicals to neither demonize politicians and their voters nor "approve everything that gains political support out of protest, frustration or disappointment."
"No political party has a claim to our ultimate loyalty," he said. "Political positions must be measured against human dignity, freedom, truthfulness, responsibility and love of neighbor."
Matthies also cautioned against reducing the situation simply to the question of a "far-right surge."
"We need to examine concrete positions critically, including those of the AfD, while at the same time taking seriously the reasons why so many citizens have withdrawn their confidence from the established parties. Listening to voters is not the same as endorsing everything they voted for."
Matthies also called on evangelicals to pray for those in political leadership at this time.
"The New Testament calls Christians to pray for those who carry political responsibility. We should pray for wisdom and humility among those who govern and those who oppose them, for the protection of human dignity and democratic freedom, for social peace, and for the courage to address real problems truthfully rather than merely fighting political labels.
"For Christians, hope ultimately does not rest on an election result or on any political party. Our task is to remain truthful, to seek the good of our neighbors, to resist contempt and hatred, and to contribute to reconciliation in a society that is becoming increasingly polarized."]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[German evangelist Lothar Velten, known for 'Life to the Full' tent missions, dies at 82]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/german-evangelist-lothar-velten-known-for-life-to-the-full-tent-missions-dies-at-82</link>
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                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[Lothar Velten, who spent six decades as an evangelist in Austria and Germany and shaped the modern practice of tent mission, died Aug. 31 at 82.]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Bestattungshaus Keil ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ Lothar Velten, who spent six decades as an evangelist in Austria and Germany and shaped the modern practice of tent mission, died Aug. 31 at 82. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Thu, 03 Sep 2026 15:41:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[Lothar Velten, a German evangelist who spent six decades preaching in Austria and Germany and became one of the best-known figures in the country's tent mission movement, has died at 82. The evangelical news agency IDEA reported that he died during the night into Aug. 31, citing the Deutsche Zeltmission.]]></description>
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Lothar Velten, a German evangelist who spent six decades preaching in Austria and Germany and became one of the best-known figures in the country's tent mission movement, has died at 82. The evangelical news agency IDEA reported that he died during the night into Aug. 31, citing the Deutsche Zeltmission.
Velten joined the Deutsche Zeltmission (DZM), a tent evangelism agency based in Siegen in western Germany, as a preacher in 1998 and remained associated with it for the rest of his life. In an obituary published by the agency on social media, the DZM said his aim had been to bring faith into people's everyday lives. IDEA described him as having shaped the way tent evangelism in Germany is now practiced.
Tent missions have a long history in German-speaking Europe. Agencies erect large marquees in towns and villages for a week or more of evening meetings, usually at the invitation of local congregations.
Adapting to the local context
Velten preached under the slogan "Voll das Leben" — "Life to the Full" — which the DZM described as his trademark and which he used to invite people to a life with Jesus Christ.
The agency said he adjusted each program to the social and cultural conditions of the place he was working in, drawing both church members and people with no church background. Mayors, rural women's associations, fire brigades, sports clubs and brass bands were brought into the events.
"Velten gave the local dignitaries a stage, in order then to tell of the Greatest," the DZM wrote.
In his first year with the agency he introduced a bistro area inside the tent, which the DZM said has since become standard in German tent evangelism. He also developed a format called "3mal voll das Leben" ("Life to the Full — Three Times Over"), working with performers including Klaus Kreischer and the entertainer known as Mr. Joy.
From electrician to evangelist
Velten trained as an electrician before studying theology at the mission school in Unterweissach, near Backnang in southwestern Germany, according to IDEA. He then worked for 12 years as a preacher for a mission association in Austria.
From 1978 to 1998 he directed the evangelistic work of the German youth association Entschieden für Christus (Decided for Christ), known as EC, IDEA reported. The DZM obituary refers more broadly to decades of evangelistic ministry with the EC in Austria and Germany.
A chronicle published by the German Evangelists' Conference lists Velten among the successive leaders of its working group of tent missions, an alliance of agencies that coordinated summer campaigns nationally.
'Warm and humble'
Klaus Göttler, general secretary of the German EC Association, paid tribute to Velten on Facebook as a mentor and a "wonderful friend." Göttler said the two had first met in the 1980s and that Velten had influenced and accompanied him since then through what he called his warm and humble manner.
Velten carried out his work as an evangelist "from the heart and with great passion," Göttler said. He described Velten as having a deep affection for young people and for Jesus, adding: "It was his greatest concern to bring the two together."
Board service and restructuring
Velten continued to preach after reaching retirement age and served the DZM for several more years as chairman and as a member of its board.
In 2015 he voted in favor of a far-reaching restructuring of the organization and the launch of its Camissio Camp2Go program, despite reservations he had raised himself. When he withdrew as a member in 2021, he said the decision had been an important one and had proved a blessing, according to the DZM.
The DZM statement closed by calling Velten an ambassador of God who was now experiencing his own program in full.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[More than half of young people in Germany favor a social media ban, survey finds]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/more-than-half-of-young-people-in-germany-favor-a-social-media-ban-survey-finds</link>
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                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                            <media:title><![CDATA[A 7-year-old teenage boy and a 11-year-old teenage girl look at their iPad screen with TikTok logo is displayed on December 07, 2025 in Sydney, Australia]]></media:title>
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                                    <![CDATA[ George Chan/Getty Images ]]>
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                                    <![CDATA[ More than half of German 12- to 17-year-olds support some form of social media ban for minors, though 80% say the platforms do them good, according to a report published in Berlin by the health insurer Techniker Krankenkasse. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Thu, 03 Sep 2026 07:02:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[More than half of German children and young people aged 12 to 17 support restricting access to social media for minors, even though most of them describe the platforms as good for their own lives, according to a report published Aug. 27 in Berlin by the German health insurer Techniker Krankenkasse.]]></description>
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More than half of German children and young people aged 12 to 17 support restricting access to social media for minors, even though most of them describe the platforms as good for their own lives, according to a report published Aug. 27 in Berlin by the German health insurer Techniker Krankenkasse.
The report, titled "Jugend zwischen Like und Limit" ("Young People Between Like and Limit"), found that 55% of respondents backed some form of ban. Eight percent supported a general prohibition for children and young people, while 47% favored a ban up to a certain age. Those respondents proposed an average age limit of 14. Thirty-nine percent rejected a ban outright.
The findings arrive as several governments have moved to bar or restrict minors from social media platforms, and as courts and regulators press technology companies over the design of their products. The German statutory health insurer used the release to argue that legal limits alone will not resolve the problem, and that platform operators and educators share responsibility.
Positive views, with reservations
Despite the support for restrictions, 80% of the young people surveyed said social media does them rather good or very good, the insurer reported.
Jens Baas, chairman of the executive board of Techniker Krankenkasse, said young people value the platforms for contact with friends, ideas and access to information. "At the same time, however, they are also aware of the downsides, such as fake news, cyberbullying and other content that is mentally burdensome," he said in the release. He added that society must find lasting solutions to protect the health and well-being of children and young people.
Asked what irritates or stresses them most, 57% of respondents named excessive advertising. The spread of false information followed at 52%, then spending too much time online at 36%, bullying and insults at 35%, and inappropriate images or videos, such as depictions of violence, at 31%.
Heavy use linked to poorer well-being
The report drew a series of comparisons between young people who spend four or more hours a day on social media and those who spend one to two hours. The insurer said no causal relationship can be derived from the survey data, but described the pattern as consistent.
Among heavy users, 49% said they were often or constantly in a bad mood, compared with 20% of light users. Gaps of a similar size appeared for feelings of insecurity and doubt (41% versus 22%), dissatisfaction with oneself (40% versus 22%), irritability or anger (39% versus 14%), inner restlessness (39% versus 17%) and exhaustion (39% versus 22%).
Physical complaints followed the same pattern, according to the report. Sleep problems were reported by 38% of those spending four or more hours a day on the platforms, against 14% of those spending one to two hours. Heavy users also reported more headaches or migraines (37% versus 12%), muscle tension or back pain (30% versus 17%), abdominal pain (28% versus 12%) and irritated eyes (22% versus 8%).
Baas said existing research points in the same direction. He cited depressive moods, anxiety disorders, dissatisfaction with one's own body and sleep problems as effects that have been associated with intensive use.
Insurer argues bans are not enough
Techniker Krankenkasse said a broad prohibition would not adequately address the risks its report identified.
"In our view, a blanket social media ban to protect children and young people from the risks online does not go far enough," Baas said. "We live in a digital world — for children and young people to be able to handle social media in a healthy way over the long term, media literacy is decisive." He said providers must also be held to account and offer versions of their platforms suited to young users, without advertising and without algorithms that encourage compulsive use.
Lilli Berthold, deputy secretary general of the Bundesschüler*innenkonferenz, the national body representing school students, told the insurer that many young people cannot cut back on their own. A ban, she said, should only ever be a last resort, with sustained work on media literacy by parents and schools mattering more.
Asked what would help them use social media safely, 48% of respondents pointed to educational videos about the risks placed on the platforms themselves. Forty-six percent wanted trained contacts at school, such as media scouts, 43% wanted more conversations with their parents and 42% favored workshops or projects. Twelve percent said no support was needed.
Valentin Dander of the Gesellschaft für Medienpädagogik und Kommunikationskultur, a German association for media education, offered practical advice in the release. Accompanying young people's media use at home with interest and a critical eye, and negotiating rules together, is where it starts, he said, along with deliberate choices about which platforms to use. He said creative and social leisure activities outside digital spaces are also needed.
Debate over restrictions widens
Governments in several countries have already legislated. Australia passed a law in late 2024 barring children under 16 from social media platforms, with penalties of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($32.5 million) for companies that fail to comply and no exemptions for existing users or parental consent. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at the time that the aim was to allow young Australians a childhood and to give parents peace of mind. Digital researchers questioned the reliability of age-verification technology and warned that restrictions could be circumvented, while some experts described the measure as too blunt an instrument.
The British government announced in June that under-16s would be barred from platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and X, following the Australian model. Mark Gilmore, policy adviser at the UK Evangelical Alliance, told Christian Daily International that the measure was unlikely to achieve what was intended.
"A social media ban is not a silver bullet, and many young people will find ways around it," Gilmore said. "But social media has caused real harm to children's wellbeing, relationships and safety." He said the alliance had pressed for stronger accountability of technology companies, and that churches had an opportunity to offer young people spaces of friendship, belonging and support as the changes take effect.
Reuters reported in June that authorities in a range of countries, Germany among them, have introduced restrictions on young people's use of social media.
Platform design has also come under legal pressure. Meta Platforms agreed in August to pay billions of dollars and change core features of Facebook and Instagram to settle claims by dozens of U.S. states that it built its platforms to be addictive to children.
Under that settlement, Meta agreed to impose daily time limits for teenagers, restrict overnight access, silence notifications during school hours and late at night, interrupt endless scrolling, and limit beauty filters and visible "like" counts. Several of those measures address the same features the German report identified as sources of stress for young users.]]></content:encoded>
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                <title><![CDATA[German free evangelical churches report rise in baptisms]]></title>
                <link>https://www.christiandaily.com/news/german-free-evangelical-churches-report-rise-in-baptisms</link>
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                                                            <dc:creator><![CDATA[CDI Staff]]></dc:creator>
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                                    <![CDATA[ The Federation of Free Evangelical Churches in Germany reported 504 congregations and 40,933 members as of Dec. 31, 2025, along with a rise in baptisms on profession of faith from 1,491 to 2,624 over four years. ]]>
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                                                                            <pubDate>Wed, 02 Sep 2026 06:38:00 -0400</pubDate>
                <description><![CDATA[The Federation of Free Evangelical Churches in Germany said it counted 504 congregations and 40,933 members as of Dec. 31, 2025, and reported a rise in baptisms that it called the clearest change in its recent statistics.]]></description>
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The Federation of Free Evangelical Churches in Germany said it counted 504 congregations and 40,933 members as of Dec. 31, 2025, and reported a rise in baptisms that it called the clearest change in its recent statistics.
According to the federation's press release, issued Aug. 28, the number of people baptized on profession of faith rose from 1,491 to 2,624 over four years, an increase of about 76%. The number of baptismal services in the same period rose from 554 to 822.
The figures cover a small segment of German Christianity. Evangelicals are estimated at roughly 2% to 3% of Germany's population of about 84 million. The direction of travel, however, runs against that of the country's two largest churches, which reported a combined loss of about 1.2 million members during 2025.
The federation, known in German as the Bund Freier evangelischer Gemeinden (FeG), draws its data from internal statistics rather than state registers. Member churches are asked to report their figures every two years; the returns are checked for plausibility and reviewed by regional officers before being compiled. Several of the comparisons in the release are measured from 2021, when public health restrictions in Germany limited gatherings, baptisms and worship services.
Reported conversions and baptisms
The federation said member churches reported some 2,700 "decisions for faith in Jesus Christ" in the most recent two-year reporting period. It described this as higher than any comparable period in recent years, adding that the figure was regularly below 2,000 up to 2021 and stood at about 2,400 in 2023.
"These figures fill us with great joy and gratitude," Guido Sadler, the federation's managing director, said in the release. He said the churches were seeing people ask about God "whether for the first time or once again," and that the pattern showing itself in baptisms in particular was an encouragement.
Free evangelical churches practice baptism on profession of faith rather than infant baptism, so their baptismal totals reflect a different category of decision than those published by Germany's Protestant regional churches, which baptize infants as well as adults.
Attendance measured as a ratio
Worship attendance in the federation's churches is reported not as a headcount but as a ratio of attendances to membership. That ratio fell to 62% in 2021, recovered in 2023 and stood at 92% at the end of 2025, according to the release. The federation said regular worship life had returned almost entirely to its pre-pandemic level.
"We are glad and grateful that we have overcome the coronavirus dip," said Henrik Otto, who has served as the federation's president since 2024. "At the same time, we are not yet satisfied. The return to the earlier level is no reason for us to sit back."
The federation also said the number of "friends of the church" (people connected to a congregation without holding membership) has risen continuously in relation to membership in recent years and continued to rise even in years when membership fell. The release likewise stated that membership is again growing slightly after a dip in 2023.
Church planting and congregation size
The average size of a free evangelical congregation has fallen over the past six years from 84 members to a little more than 81, the federation said, attributing the decline largely to a growing number of new congregations, which typically begin small.
"Church planting is firmly part of the DNA of our federation of churches," said Sascha Rützenhoff, director of the federation's home mission arm. He said the aim was not only to maintain existing congregations but to keep founding new ones.
Sadler said the figures confirmed a decision to continue directing resources toward new congregations.
The federation reported that the average age of its members has risen by 1.2 years over six years and now stands at a little over 53 — a slower increase than demographic trends alone would suggest, it said, and one it linked to new congregations.
"We have overcome the coronavirus dip — and that is good. But we want more," Sadler said. "Behind every figure stand people who are discovering faith, experiencing fellowship, being baptized or setting out to found a new church."
The wider German picture
Germany's two large state-recognized churches have been losing members for decades, with a decline of roughly 3% a year since 2022. The Evangelical Church in Germany, the mainline Protestant umbrella body known as the EKD, reported about 17.4 million members at the end of 2025, down 3.2% from the previous year, with roughly 350,000 formal departures and about 330,000 deaths set against some 105,000 baptisms and 16,000 admissions. The Catholic Church in Germany reported about 19.2 million members, down from 19.8 million, with around 307,000 departures.
Together the two churches accounted for about 36.6 million people at the end of 2025, or roughly 44% of the population. This is a steep decline from over 90% of the population since the 1970s.
The Federation of Free Evangelical Churches was founded in 1874 and consists of independent local congregations, which do not receive the church tax collected by the state on behalf of the Protestant and Catholic churches. It is associated with the German Evangelical Alliance and belongs to both the Association of Evangelical Free Churches and the Council of Christian Churches in Germany.]]></content:encoded>
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