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A glimpse... inside the church
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The centre of the Evangelical-Reformed Church parish in Göttingen is the church itself, which was built in 1753 by Albrecht von Haller, and which stands in Untere Karspüle street, opposite the Institute of Botany. Upon entering the church you are greeted by a light, simply shaped room with late baroque style benches arranged in a circle around the center. The pulpit also follows the baroque style with Corinthian columns and wall columns.
You will not find an altar, crucifix or any pictures, however, due to the close observance of the second commandment which prohibits graven images. This is because the second commandment, "You shall not make for yourself a graven image ..." (The second book of Moses, Chapter 20, Verses 1-17), is more important in the Evangelical-Reformed Churches than for any other Evangelical denomination. Services take place at 10am.
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A glimpse... at the history
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The Reformed Church, like the Lutheran Church, dates back to the Reformation in the 16th century. Therefore "reformed", i.e. renewed church! Amongst the founders of the reformation movement two are particularly important, namely Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) from Zürich and Johannes Calvin (1509-1564) from Geneva. They considered the Word of God to be the standard and center of human life and abolished the liturgy of the Roman Mass and, instead, celebrated their services with prayers, reading, preaching and the singing of psalms. The Göttingen parish was founded in 1750 by several Huguenots and evangelical-reformed students from abroad and nearby Hessen. Today, approximately 70 million Reformed Christians from 182 different churches in 90 countries are united in the World Alliance of Reformed (Presbyterian) Churches.
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A glimpse... at the congregation
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The present congregation has approximately 3.000 members who live all over Göttingen. Ever since its foundation, the Reformed Church in Göttingen has always been independent (not part of an established Protestant Church) and is not answerable to any church authority. The leading council of our church is the presbytery together with representatives from the congregation and the church tax is paid directly to our own church tax office and is not regulated by the state, as for other churches. You are welcome to join the varied church groups, which cover all ages. In addition, many trips are organised each year to visit our own "Haus Göttingen" on the North Sea island of Spiekeroog.
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| If you would like to know more about the Evangelical-Reformed
Church in Göttingen, or would like to be shown around the church,
either individually or in a group, then please contact us at the following
address: Untere Karspüle 11, D-37073 Göttingen; Tel.: +49 (0)551-54737-0; Fax: +49 (0)551-54737-23; eMail: info@refo-goettingen.de |
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More about reformed protestantism
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reformed online | |
