End of an era: Evangelical church district Sulz is reorganized!

End of an era: Evangelical church district Sulz is reorganized!

Sulz, Deutschland - The future of the Evangelical Church District Sulz is on the brink! After over 400 years, this will be history on January 1, 2025. At the last conference of the district synod, the representatives of the parishes gathered to advise the restructuring. In the future, the municipalities will be assigned to the neighboring church districts of Freudenstadt and Balingen or form the new Evangelical Church district of Rottweil together with the communities of the Tuttlingen church district, such as The Black Forest messenger reported.

The discussions mainly revolved around the distribution of the so -called custody - church tax resources that were not used in the past. In a unanimous decision it was decided that 40 percent of these funds will be paid out to the parishes of the Sulz church district this year. Administrator Christoph Hofius and the chairman of the district synod, Rolf Hölle, thanked Traude Mangold, who worked as a church district computer for 24 years, for her commitment. Her farewell marks another turning point in the history of the district.

The challenges of reorganization

The reorganization not only brings structural changes with it, but also an enormous burden for the full-time and volunteers. Many of them are already working on the limit to occupy the open parish offices. "The strength in our church district was and is the great voluntary commitment of many," emphasized Hölle. This challenge is reinforced by the fact that the church district of Sulz currently only has 29 parish offices that are to be reduced to 26 after the implementation of the parish plan 2024, such as Church districts Sulz informed.

The municipalities must now adapt to new forms of cooperation. The 36 parishes have come together in four local areas in order to be able to work more effectively. These changes are not only organizational in nature, but also affect pastoral work and early childhood education, which is considered essential for the future development of the communities.

A look into the future

The first management position in the newly merged Evangelical Church district of Rottweil has already been filled: Pastor Marie-Luise Karle will act as a deputy deputy from January 2025. It will take on important tasks in the areas of diakonia, church music and psychological advice. This shows that despite the challenges, new opportunities arise.

Rolf Hölle's last words to the synodals were a call to bravely go into the future and to understand the changes as an opportunity. "We have to continue with confidence in Jesus Christ," said Hölle. The synodals will meet in other synods and new systems in the new year to discuss the work of the church districts. The future of the Protestant church district of Sulz may be uncertain, but hope for a positive development remains strong.