Danish Church in Southern Schleswig

The Danish Church in Southern Schleswig (Danish: Dansk Kirke i Sydslesvig) is an evangelical Lutheran church in Southern Schleswig in Northern Germany.

Danish Church in Southern Schleswig
Dansk Kirke i Sydslesvig
Church of the Holy Spirit (Danish: Helligåndskirken) in Flensburg
AbbreviationDKS
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationLutheran
RegionSouthern Schleswig
LanguageDanish
HeadquartersFlensburg
Branched fromChurch of Denmark
Congregationsc. 30
Membersc. 6,000
Official websitewww.dks-folkekirken.dk

The church was founded by the Danish minority of Southern Schleswig and is affiliated with the Danish Church Abroad and the Church of Denmark.[1] Though the church opperates independently, it is overseen by the bishop of the Diocese of Haderslev.[2] As such, it shares many of the Church of Denmark's liberal views, including its support for the ordination of women and of remarriage after divorce.

Today, the church has nearly 30 congregations across Southern Schleswig and approximately 6,000 registered members who are serviced at 62 individual places of warship.[3][4] The central church is the Church of the Holy Spirit (Danish: Helligåndskirken) in Flensburg.[5]

History

Following the reformation, many pastors in Southern Schleswig performed services in Danish, though certain parts of the ceremony had to be performed in German by mandate of the German Church. In 1905, the "Church Society of Flensburg and the Surrounding Area" (Danish: Kirkeligt Samfund for Flensborg og Omegn) was established with the purpose of reaching congregations within the German Church whose primary language was Danish. The society was rejected by officials who felt the Danish minority should conform to German society and its language.[6]

In 1921, following the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites, the Danish Church in Flensburg (Danish: Den Danske Menighed i Flensborg) was established as a free church. In the following years the church expanded to include the whole of Southern Schleswig, and in 1959 it was given its current name.[7][8][9]

Provosts
  • Anton Westergaard-Jacobsen, 1950–1962[10]
  • Hans Kvist, 1962–1969
  • Ingemann Christensen, 1970–1979
  • Christian Benjamin Karstoft, 1979–1993
  • Viggo Jacobsen, 1993–2018[11][12]
  • Hasse Neldeberg Jørgensen, 2019–present[13]

Churches

Incomplete list of churches within the Danish Church in Southern Schleswig:

  • Ansgar Church
  • Church of the Holy Spirit (Helligåndskirken)[14]
  • Haderslev Danish Church[15]
  • Husum Danish Church
  • Jaruplund Danish Church
  • Lyksborg Danish Church
  • St. Hans Church
  • St. Jørgen Church[16]
  • Tarp Danish Church
  • Westerland Danish Church

Sources
  1. "Sydslesvig". Danske Sømands- og Udlandskirker (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  2. "Syv provstier og Sydslesvig". Haderslev Stift (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  3. "Om DKS". Dansk Kirke i Sydslesvig (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  4. "Dansk Kirke i Sydslesvig e.V." (PDF). Folketinget. 2016. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  5. "Mitgliederzahlen: Protestantismus". REMID: Religionswissenschaftlicher Medien- und Informationsdienst (in German). Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  6. Weitling, Günter (2005). Fra Ansgar til Kaftan. Sydslesvig i Dansk Kirkehistorie 800–1920 (in Danish). Flensburg. ISBN 8789178521.
  7. Henningsen, Lars N.; Runge, Johann (2006). Sprog og kirke. Dansk gudstjeneste i Flensborg 1588–1921 (in Danish). Flensburg. ISBN 8789178629.
  8. Henningsen, Lars N. (1996). Kirke og Folk i Grænselandet. Dansk Kirke i Sydslesvig 1921–1996 (in Danish). Flensborg: Studieafdelingen ved Dansk centralbibliotek for Sydslesvig. ISBN 9788789178240.
  9. "Dansk Kirke i Sydslesvig". Oplev Sydslesvig (in Danish). 2019-02-17. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  10. "Anton Westergaard-Jacobsen (1895-1976) Rødding, Sognepræst". arkiv.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  11. Tulinius, Bjørg (2018-08-08). "Provst i Sydslesvig: Vi har bevæget os væk fra dem og os". Kristeligt Dagblad (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  12. Gram, Peter (2018-04-23). "Sydslesvigs provst går af". jv.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  13. Gram, Peter (2019-01-02). "Sydslesvigs nye provst er fundet". jv.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  14. "Helligåndskirken". Dansk Kirke i Sydslesvig (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  15. "Harreslev". Dansk Kirke i Sydslesvig (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-07-26.
  16. "Sankt Jørgen og Mørvig Danske Kirke, Flensborg". graenseforeningen.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2020-07-26.
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