The Bund Freikirchlicher Pfingstgemeinden, Germany’s Federation of Free Pentecostal Churches, reported a membership increase of more than 22% over the past two years, adding more than 15,000 members across its network of congregations.
According to figures released during the federation’s executive board meeting May 7 in Erzhausen and reported by Jesus.de, the denomination counted 82,717 members in 1,119 local congregations as of Jan. 1, 2026. At the start of 2024, the federation reported 67,455 members in 966 congregations.
The report also showed a sharp rise in believer’s baptisms. Churches affiliated with the federation recorded 6,389 baptisms in 2025, compared with 3,863 in 2023.
The denomination said its congregations were involved with more than 30,000 children and teenagers under age 16 through church and youth ministries. Those efforts include programs connected to the Royal Rangers, the BFP Children’s Forum and the “Youth Alive/ONE Movement” youth ministry initiative.
Peter Bregy, the federation’s general secretary, attributed the growth in part to a long-term strategy adopted in 2013. According to the report, the strategy focused on strengthening the denomination’s shared identity, supporting existing congregations, planting new churches and expanding Christian outreach.
Bregy also pointed to leadership development and ministry training initiatives as contributing factors. The federation’s leadership said its theological framework, including its commitment to the Bible as a guide for doctrine and Christian living, remained central to the denomination’s direction.
“We understand every growth as a gift from God — especially in view of the many people without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ,” Bregy said in the statement cited by Jesus.de.
The federation said membership statistics are collected every two years from local congregations and then compiled centrally.
Of the BFP’s 1,119 congregations, 502 are classified as international churches, representing nearly 45% of the denomination’s membership network.
The BFP is affiliated with the Vereinigung Evangelischer Freikirchen, an association of evangelical free churches in Germany, and holds guest membership status in the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen, a national ecumenical body.
In Germany, the term “free church” generally refers to Christian churches that operate independently from the state church system and are not financed through the country’s church tax structure.
