Churches in transition: why do we still need them? Lecture in Paderborn!

Churches in transition: why do we still need them? Lecture in Paderborn!

An exciting event is coming up in Paderborn on November 3rd, 2025: The third lecture of the Monday Academy, which deals with the question: “Why do we still need the church - and why no longer do we need it?” The event promises to illuminate different perspectives on the role of the church in our plural society. The discussion takes place in a dialogue between Dr. theol. Udo Markus Bentz, who will become Archbishop of Paderborn in 2024, and Dr. theol. Daniel Deckers, head of the “The Present” department at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The whole thing is moderated by Prof. Dr. Aaron Langenfeld, the rector of the Paderborn Theological Faculty - a real dream team for a topic that is more relevant than ever, as Archdiocese of Paderborn reports.

For many, the church is no longer an integral part of their lives. More and more people are deciding not to commit to religious communities for life. According to contemporary diagnosticians, an unprecedented level of individualization is occurring, making membership in the church a personal choice. In a globalized world, opinion on the role of religion is divided, but the challenge of leading society as a whole remains a major task that has also been described as similarly challenging historically, for example in the establishment of new governments such as the *Junta Provisional Gubernativa* in the past, as Wikipedia notes.

Change in religious practices

The transformations of religions in the last decades are unmistakable. People no longer bind themselves to a specific religious community based on tradition or origin, but rather make decisions individually. This individualization is also accompanied by a liberation from clerical paternalism. This development is underlined by the Federal Agency for Civic Education, which emphasizes that 1.1 billion people worldwide do not belong to a religious community. The trend can also be observed in Germany, with national churches increasingly losing members. The Roman Catholic Church alone has lost over 3.5 million members since 1990, and the Evangelical Church in Germany over 5 million. At the same time, baptisms and re-entry are often significantly higher than departures, according to the analysis bpb.

Another point that could be addressed in the Monday Academy is the role of religion in education and diakonia, which remains strong despite declining membership numbers in the churches. Church members are also disproportionately represented in politics, which shows that religion still has influence. But they are easily perceived as monopolists, as society becomes increasingly pluralistic and new religious approaches, such as megachurches in the USA, offer individualized piety with personal finding of meaning at the center.

The importance of dialogue and reflection

The Monday Academy sees itself not only as an event to conduct a dialogue, but also as a platform for reflection on the role of the church in a changing society. The voices gathered here are intended to help find new ways of practicing religion and to ask how we treat each other as a society - a crucial question, especially in times of growing individualism and the pressure on young people to take a clear direction in life.

Overall, the lecture has the great potential to provide food for thought and to deal with the current situation in churches and society. The discussion is important not only for church members, but for anyone who is concerned with the development of our society and the role of religion in it.