Lutheran Diocese of Warsaw

The Lutheran Diocese of Warsaw is one of the six dioceses of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland (Poland's only Lutheran church), covering most of central and eastern Poland. The Lutheran population in the area in 2016 was 3968,[1] which amounts to about 7% of the total number of adherents of the church in Poland.[2] There were 18 ordained ministers in the diocese in 2016.[1]

For the Catholic diocese, see Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Warsaw.

Diocese of Warsaw Diecezja warszawska
Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Pabianice
Location
Country	Poland
Headquarters	Pabianice
Statistics
Parishes	21
Congregations	29
Members	3968
Denomination	Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland
Current leadership
Bishop	Jan Cieślar

Structure

The Lutheran Diocese of Warsaw has 21 parishes: 6 in Masovian Voivodeship (two parishes in Warsaw, one in Radom, Płock, Żyrardów and Węgrów), 14 in Łódź Voivodeship (in Łódź, Piotrków Trybunalski, Pabianice, Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Zgierz, Kutno, Zduńska Wola, Wieluń, Aleksandrów Łódzki, Ozorków, Łask, Rawa Mazowiecka, Zelów, Poddębice) and 1 in Lublin Voivodeship (in Lublin).[3] The diocese also covers the area of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, and although there are no independent parishes in the area, church services are held in the regional capital, Kielce, in a filial church that is administratively part of the parish in Radom. The seat of the bishop is the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Pabianice.

History

The territorial division of the Diocese of Warsaw as affirmed by the presidential decree of 1936 included 17 parishes, including two in the city of Warsaw itself.[4] In 1939 the Lutheran population of the diocese was 49,405, of which 61.8% were German and 38.2% Polish.[5] Although the total figure was ten times larger than the current numbers, the area of the diocese was significantly smaller than it is nowadays. With separate dioceses in Płock, Lublin, Piotrków and Łódź, the bishop of Warsaw in the Second Polish Republic was responsible for a far smaller area than is currently the case.

The diocese of Warsaw was re-established in the new territorial division of the church following World War II. The dissolution of the diocese of Łódź in 1952 gave it its present shape.[6]

Number of adherents in the Lutheran diocese of Warsaw
in the 21st century

Year	2005	2009	2011	2012	2014	2015	2016
Adherents	5,500[7]	4,955[8]	3,902[9]	3,951[9]	3,976[10][11]	4,005[10]	3,968[1]

Number of adherents in the Lutheran diocese of Warsaw in the 20th century

Year	1923	1939	1955	1960	1965	1970	1975	1980	1985	1990	1995	2000
Adherents[12]	54,371	49,405	15,192	13,248	9,612	7,148	5,287	4,860	5,892	5,136	6,010	6,100

List of Bishops

• Woldemar Gastpary : 1954~1957
  • Vacant (1957~1966)
• Ryszard Trenkler : 1966~1979
• Jan Walter : 1979~1995
• Mieczysław Cieślar : 1996~2010
• Jan Cieślar : 2010~

Churches in the Diocese of Warsaw

• 
  Holy Trinity Church, Warsaw
• 
  St. Matthew's Church, Łódź
• 
  Holy Trinity Church, Lublin
• 
  Lutheran church in Ozorków
• 
  Church of the Ascension, Warsaw
• 
  Lutheran church in Piotrków Trybunalski
• 
  Church of the Saviour, Tomaszów Mazowiecki
• 
  Holy Trinity Church, Kielce
• 
  Lutheran church in Węgrów
• 
  Seventeenth-century Lutheran church at Węgrów cemetery
• 
  Lutheran church in Wieluń
• 
  Lutheran church in Zduńska Wola
• 
  Lutheran church in Zelów
• 
  Church of Divine Providence, Zgierz

Footnotes

1. Rocznik Statystyczny Województwa Mazowieckiego 2017 (Statistical Yearbook 2017: Mazowieckie Voivodeship) (PDF) (in Polish and English). Warszawa: Urząd Statystyczny w Warszawie. 2017. p. 123. ISSN 1509-9652.
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsbEg38fVQw&t=5s Youtube channel of the Centre for Mission and Evangelization of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland (2:20), data from 2012
3. http://www.diec.warszawska.luteranie.pl/nasze_parafie.php Official website of the diocese - list of parishes (pol.)
4. "Dekret Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej z dnia 25 listopada 1936 r. o stosunku Państwa do Kościoła Ewangelicko-Augsburskiego w Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej". Act No. 88/613 of 25 November 1936 (PDF) (in Polish).
5. Ciecieląg, Jóźwiak and Godfrejów-Tarnogórska, p. 65.
6. Ciecieląg, Jóźwiak and Godfrejów-Tarnogórska, p. 66.
7. Ciecieląg, Jóźwiak and Godfrejów-Tarnogórska, p. 67.
8. Ciecieląg, Jóźwiak and Godfrejów-Tarnogórska, p. 76.
9. Rocznik Statystyczny Województwa Łódzkiego 2013 (Statistical Yearbook 2013: Łódź Voivodship) (in Polish and English). Łódź: Urząd Statystyczny w Łodzi. 2014. p. 130. ISSN 0239-7366.
10. Rocznik Statystyczny Województwa Łódzkiego 2016 (Statistical Yearbook 2016: Łódź Voivodship) (PDF) (in Polish and English). Łódź: Urząd Statystyczny w Łodzi. 2017. p. 125. ISSN 0239-7366.
11. Wyznania religijne w Polsce 2012-2014 [Religious Denominations in Poland 2012-2014] (PDF). Warszawa: Główny Urząd Statystyczny. 2016. p. 58. ISBN 978-83-7027-612-6.
12. Ciecieląg, Jóźwiak and Godfrejów-Tarnogórska, pp. 55 (data for 1923), 65 (data for 1939), 67 (data for 1955-2000).

References

• Ciecieląg, Paweł; Jóźwiak, Ewa; Godfrejów-Tarnogórska, Agnieszka, eds. (2017). 500 lat Reformacji w Polsce (PDF) (in Polish). Warszawa: Główny Urząd Statystyczny. ISBN 978-83-7027-667-6.

External links

• Official Website of the Lutheran Diocese of Warsaw (pol.)