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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
HeadquartersBerlin, Germany
FounderFriedrich Rittelmeyer
Seminaries3
Logo

The Christian Community is a liberal and Esoteric 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.

The community has its historical roots partially in the broader liberal Christian tradition, and partially in the esoteric and gnostic tradition as well as German new humanism.

The Christian Community is primarily a liturgical community, and practises freedom of teaching. It does not have an official theology or articles of belief, and does not accept the concept of Christian dogmas, it also does not engage in missionary work. The community also views other religions as equally valid as Christianity.

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 their concept of Jesus Christ as the first fully initiated human in history, possessing absolute consciousness of the spiritual realm.[1] Friedrich Rittelmeyer, who had been the most prominent representative of liberal Lutheranism in Germany during the First World War and whose early theological work had focused on the concept of a socially engaged "Christianity of deeds" (Tatchristentum). Rittelmeyer and the other 21 founders were inspired by Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian philosopher and founder of anthroposophy.

In 1939 in London, Evelyn Capel became the first English woman priest of The Christian Community to celebrate the sacraments.[3] After World War II, she helped reestablish Christian Community congregations in Germany, as well as expand its foothold to South Africa.[3]

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".[4][5]

The first Christian Community congregation in the United States was established in New York in 1948.[6]

Practice

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The Christian Community does not require its members to conform to any specific teaching or behaviour. Seven sacraments are celebrated within the community: the Eucharist, which is called the Consecration of the Human Being, and six other sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, Last Anointing (Extreme Unction), Sacramental Consultation (replacing Confession), and Ordination. There is also a special Sunday service for children of school age.

Rituals and sacraments are the same wherever they are celebrated. Services are generally celebrated in the language of the country in which they celebrated. The Consecration of the Human Being lasts approximately one hour. Sunday services are longer than weekday services because they contain a sermon in addition to holy communion. For the sacramental wine used in communion non-fermented grape juice is used rather than alcoholic wine. Three Christmas services are celebrated, one on December 24 (at midnight) and two on December 25. There are also added prayers for different liturgical seasons of the year.

Some chapels have an organ, and occasionally the organ has quarter tones in addition to the conventional (equal temperament) tuning.

Tenets

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The Christian Community practices a complete freedom of teaching. The Priests may exert this freedom of teaching, provided that they do not contradict the sacraments which they celebrate. There is no official theology, nor articles of belief. Whatever is taught or written is a personal view.

Basic tenets of some priests of the Christian Community are free will, reincarnation and focus on Christ. For example, Jesus of Nazareth is seen as a physical vessel that enabled the spiritual being called Christ to influence the world.

The ideology of some priests of the Christian Community could be summarized with the following points:

  • Modern man requires modern religion (movement).
  • The soul is immortal via reincarnation.
  • A semi adoptionist Christology that holds Jesus and Christ are separate entities, joined at baptism. However, in stark contrast with adoptionism, there is the belief in the pre-existence of Christ as the Logos. Though focus is on both, when "Christ" is spoken of in the sacraments, it is the risen Christ Jesus that is meant.
  • Christ is both an external and internal reality (Christ is not only ‘out there’ but at the same time ‘in here’)
  • The New Testament should have priority over other documents in Christianity
  • No missionary work or public marketing should be done because finding this religion should be based on free will.

The Christian Community practices open communion.[7]

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 400, 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, which in the Christian Community is called a Lenker, from among their own number.[1] The Christian Community is globally administered by the Circle of Seven. The Circle of Seven consists of four Lenkers which also administer their respective regions, two Oberlenkers, and headed by one Erzoberlenker. The Erzoberlenker, is primus inter pares among the Circle of Seven and leads the church worldwide. The Circle of Seven is based out of Berlin, Germany.[1]

The Christian Community's clergy, referred to as priests, are ordained by national synods after being confirmed by the Circle of Seven upon completion of two years of instruction in one of its three seminaries, followed by a year long internship with an active priest in a congregation. Both men and women are ordained. Its first priests included three women, and it was one of the first Christian denominations to practise the ordination of women. Women such as Maria Darmstädter played a major role in the development of The Christian Community. In addition openly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals are eligible to be ordained. The Christian Community does not claim Apostolic succession.[7][8]

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.[9] The Evangelical Church in Germany also does not accept the Christian Community's baptisms, however, neither does it deny its Christianity.[10] 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.[10] The community itself states it operates "without attachment to any existing church or ecumenical movement".[11]

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. ^ a b Button, Peter (February 7, 2000). "Obituary: Evelyn Capel". The Guardian. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  4. ^ Staudenmaier, Peter (2014). Accommodation, Collaboration, Persecution: Anthroposophy in the Shadow of National Socialism, 1933–1945. Brill. p. 104. ISBN 9789004270152.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "About the Congregation". christiancommunitynyc.org. The Christian Community of New York. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference abc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Coulombe, Charles (April 25, 2019). "Heretic of the week: Rudolf Steiner". Catholic Herald. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  9. ^ "The Issue of Baptism". catholicaoc.org. Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "Who We Are". thechristiancommunity.org. The Christian Community. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  12. ^ Luce, Stephen (Spring 1949). "Necrology". American Journal of Archaeology. 53 (2): 199.
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