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The Christian Community

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The Christian Community
Die Christengemeinschaft
ClassificationIndependent Sacramental Movement
TheologyEsoteric and Liberal
PolityCongregational[1]
ErzoberlenkerJoão Torunsky
HeadquartersStuttgart, Germany
FounderFriedrich Rittelmeyer
Seminaries3
Logo

The Christian Community is a liberal and esoterically-oriented Christian denomination[2] established in Germany in 1922 by Lutheran ministers influenced by Anthroposophy. As of 2023, it claims approximately 100,000 members in more than 400 congregations.

History

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The Christian Community founders, pictured on 16 September 1922.

During the early growth of the Anthroposophical Society, some Lutheran pastors in Germany appealed to Rudolf Steiner for a system of worship oriented towards his concept of Jesus Christ as the first fully initiated human in history, possessing absolute consciousness of the spiritual realm.[1] According to a founding member of the Christian Community, Friedrich Rittelmeyer, he and the other founders were inspired by Steiner.[3]

In 1939 in London, Evelyn Capel became the first English woman priest of The Christian Community to celebrate the sacraments.[4] After World War II, she helped reestablish Christian Community congregations in Germany, as well as expand its foothold to South Africa.[4]

In Nazi Germany, The Christian Community came under state surveillance, however, Reichsminister of Church Affairs Hanns Kerrl opposed an outright ban on the group. Despite Reinhard Heydrich's misgivings about the church, police reports consistently found nothing objectionable about its activities or practices and new congregations were established in Cologne and Stuttgart between 1938 and 1939. Nonetheless, following the departure of Rudolf Hess for Britain in 1941, a national purge against perceived occult tendencies was initiated, the Christian Community banned, and its leader Emil Bock imprisoned due to the community's alleged "Masonic activities".[5][6]

The first Christian Community congregation in the United States was established in New York in 1948.[7]

Beliefs

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According to James B. Robinson, a professor of religious studies at the University of Northern Iowa, the Christian Community "emphasizes freedom of thought and reflection within the framework of Christian symbolism".[8] Frank Hörtreiter, the organization's public relations officer, has written that the "Christian Community does not have any beliefs".[9] Hörtreiter explains that the Christian Community relies on the New Testament for the conduct of its sacraments and as a source for use in sermons and discussions, but individual members develop and hold their own beliefs "freely as convictions born out of their own experience".[9] Clergy are free to minister as they see fit and their sermons are understood to represent only their individual feelings and not the doctrine of the community or the congregation.[8]

The Christian Community practices open communion.[8]

Organization

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Altar in a Christian Community congregation in Helsinki, Finland.

The Christian Community has a modified congregational polity in which each congregation, of which there are approximately 200, is governed by its own members and is financially independent from the organization as a whole.[1] Priests assemble at the national and international levels in synods and elect a coordinator from among their own number.[1] The Christian Community is globally headed by the Erzoberlenker, a priest whose office is located in Stuttgart, Germany.[1]

The Christian Community's clergy, referred to as priests, are ordained by national synods upon completion of six months of instruction in one of its three seminaries, followed by an internship with an active priest in a congregation. Both men and women are ordained. The Christian Community does not claim Apostolic succession.[8][10]

Ecumenical and external relations

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The Christian Community is one of several self-identifying Christian faiths, including Mormonism and the Salvation Army, whose baptisms are not considered valid by the Roman Catholic Church.[11] The Evangelical Church in Germany also does not accept the Christian Community's baptisms, however, neither does it deny its Christianity.[12] A study commissioned by the World Council of Churches in 1950 recommended it be accepted into membership in the organization; its application was ultimately refused.[12] The community itself states it operates "without attachment to any existing church or ecumenical movement".[13]

Many members of the Christian Community are also members of the Anthroposophical Society and there are informal ties between the two groups.[1] However, it is a legally distinct organization.[1]

Notable adherents

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, James (2001). The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions. Prometheus. p. 167. ISBN 9781615927388.
  2. ^ Sources referring to The Christian Community as a "Christian denomination" include:
    • Barrett, David (2011). A Brief Guide to Secret Religions: A Complete Guide to Hermetic, Pagan and Esoteric Beliefs. Little & Brown. p. 28. ISBN 1849018111. ...Steiner helped found a small, non-dogmatic, Christian denomination, the Christian Community ...
    • Lewis, James (2015). Handbook of Nordic New Religions. BRILL. p. 57. ISBN 9004292462.
    Sources reporting the self-identification of The Christian Community as a "Christian denomination", include:
    • Soffer, Eddie (2024). "2". The Lived Spiritual Experience of Aging Adults (Ph.D. thesis). Walden University. Retrieved November 21, 2024. This study explores the lived spirituality experience of spirituality for individuals in "The Christian Community," which sees itself as a Christian denomination but is not recognized as a Christian denomination by Christian churches
  3. ^ Friedrich Rittelmeyer, Rudolf Steiner Enters My Life, ISBN 0-7661-3654-X
  4. ^ a b Button, Peter (February 7, 2000). "Obituary: Evelyn Capel". The Guardian. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  5. ^ Staudenmaier, Peter (2014). Accommodation, Collaboration, Persecution: Anthroposophy in the Shadow of National Socialism, 1933–1945. Brill. p. 104. ISBN 9789004270152.
  6. ^ Staudenmaier, Peter (2010). Between Occultism and Fascism: Anthroposophy and the Politics of Race and Nation in Germany and Italy, 1900-1945 (Ph.D. thesis). Cornell University. pp. 210–215. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  7. ^ "About the Congregation". christiancommunitynyc.org. The Christian Community of New York. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d Melton, J. Gordon (2010). Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 619–620. ISBN 1598842048.
  9. ^ a b "Frequently Asked Questions". christengemeinschaft-international.org. The Christian Community. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  10. ^ Coulombe, Charles (April 25, 2019). "Heretic of the week: Rudolf Steiner". Catholic Herald. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  11. ^ "The Issue of Baptism". catholicaoc.org. Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  12. ^ a b Mynarek, Hubertus (1999). "Christian Community, The". In Fahlbusch, Erwin; Bromiley, Geoffrey William (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Vol. 1. Wm. B. Eerdmans. p. 440. ISBN 9780802824134.
  13. ^ "Who We Are". thechristiancommunity.org. The Christian Community. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  14. ^ Luce, Stephen (Spring 1949). "Necrology". American Journal of Archaeology. 53 (2): 199.
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