The Evangelical Church of Westphalia () is a United Protestant church body in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The seat of the praeses (, the head of the church) is Bielefeld. The EKvW emerged on 13 June 1945, when the ecclesiastical province of Westphalia within the Lutheran Church of the old-Prussian Union assumed its independence as church body of its own. The EKvW is a full member of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), and the Reformed Alliance www.reformierter-bund.de/side.php?news_id=113&part_id=0&navi=1 and is a church whose bases are in a Union between parishes in Lutheran and Calvinistic traditions. The church is also a member of the Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe. Präses (president) of the EKvW is Annette Kurschus (2012), as its first female leader.
Präses (President) 1834–1835: Jakob von der Kuhlen 1835–1841: Christian Nonne 1841–1843: Bernhard Jacobi 1844–1874: Wilhelm Diedrich Albert 1874–1902: Ludwig Polscher 1902–1914: Friedrich König 1914–1927: Heinrich Kockelke 1927–1949: Karl Koch (until 1934 Präses der Provinzialsynode, 1934–1945 of Bekenntnissynode, since 1945 of synode) 1949–1968: Ernst Wilm 1969–1977: Hans Thimme 1977–1985: Heinrich Reiß 1985–1996: Hans-Martin Linnemann 1996–2004: Manfred Sorg 2004–2012: Alfred Buß 2012–2023: Annette Kurschus since 2025: Adelheid Ruck-SchröderEvangelisch.de: Präses Ruck-Schröder ins Amt eingeführt, June 2025
Practices The church permits the ordination of women. Blessing of same-sex marriages has been allowed from 2019.Landeskirche Westfalen:Neu: Trauung auch für gleichgeschlechtliche Ehepaare und konfessionslose Ehepartner, „Gottes Segen gilt für alle Ehepaare“ , 20 November 2019Evangelisch.de: Westfälische Kirche stellt Trauung von Homo-Paaren mit Ehe gleich , 20. November 2019Neue Westfälische Nachrichten: Landeskirche von Westfalen stellt Homosexuelle vor Traualtar gleich , 20 November 2019
References
External links
Official website (in German) Evangelical Church in Germany Evangelical Church of Westphalia, Unionbetweenchristians