About Unsere Kirche

Unsere Kirche

Unsere Kirche, styled UNSERE KIRCHE and abbreviated UK, the Eigenschreibweise the Wikipedia article records, is the weekly newspaper of the Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen and the Lippische Landeskirche: the Evangelische Zeitung für Westfalen und Lippe. Published by the Evangelischer Presseverband für Westfalen und Lippe e.V. in Bielefeld, the newspaper appears weekly in around 18,000 copies, the ca. 18.000 Exemplaren the article records. Its history reaches back to the 1916 Witten Sunday paper Friede und Freude, the Vorläuferblatt the article names, and the 1946 British-licensed Neue Kirche, making it one of Germany's oldest continuously published Protestant weeklies.

Overview

The weekly rhythm gives the Westphalian and Lippe Protestants their regular church news: the Sunday paper tradition that the 1916 Friede und Freude began, continued by the 1946 Neue Kirche and the 1951 Unsere Kirche. The 17,704 sold copies in the first quarter of 2023 document the newspaper's loyal parish readership.

The conversation forum positioning defines the editorial program: Unsere Kirche is not the official church gazette but the Evangelische Kirchenzeitung und Gesprächsforum, the discussion medium for the parishes, church districts, and institutions. The weekly issues' local supplements, with the Gemeindenachrichten for the church districts, give the readers the parish-level news alongside the regional church coverage.

The Evangelisches Medienhaus infrastructure gives the newspaper its Bielefeld-Brackwede base: the editorial office and publishing house under one roof with the Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen's departments and institutions since 1972. The 2015 app launch brought the weekly to the Android and iOS readers.

Unsere Kirche is a weekly newspaper, a Wochenzeitung der Evangelischen Kirche von Westfalen und der Lippischen Landeskirche the infobox describes. It appears in a circulation of around 18,000 copies, the Evangelische Zeitung für Westfalen und Lippe's weekly run. The sold circulation of 17,704 copies and the distributed circulation of 18,248 copies in the first quarter of 2023, the IVW Q1/2023 figures, document the newspaper's stable regional base.

The newspaper's concept combines the church news with the conversation forum: the Evangelische Kirchenzeitung und Gesprächsforum für Gemeinden, Kirchenkreise und Einrichtungen, the Zusatzinformation the Christian press list records. The weekly rhythm gives the parishes, church districts, and institutions their regular church news briefing.

The Evangelischer Presseverband für Westfalen und Lippe e.V.'s Bielefeld publishing base, the Verlag the infobox names, under the roof of the Evangelisches Medienhaus in Bielefeld-Brackwede, gives the newspaper its media house infrastructure alongside the other departments and institutions of the Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen.

History

The 1916 Witten founding places the predecessor in the German Protestant press's war years: the Friede und Freude Sunday paper with its 30 local editions serving the Ruhr area's Protestant parishes. The 1941 Nazi-forced cessation documents the church press's Third Reich suppression.

The June 1946 British license marks the post-war new beginning: the Neue Kirche's June 30, 1946 first issue, fortnightly with 250,000 copies, gave the Westphalian Protestants their licensed church newspaper in the British occupation zone. The 1951 weekly renaming to Unsere Kirche consolidated the brand that has run for seven decades.

The Bethel editorial beginnings and the 1972 Evangelisches Medienhaus move trace the newspaper's Bielefeld geography: from the Von Bodelschwingh Foundations' diaconal complex to the Brackwede media house. The 2015 Android and iOS app launch brought the 20th-century weekly into the mobile age.

Since 1916, the Protestant Sunday paper Friede und Freude appeared in Witten, the evangelische Sonntagsblatt the article describes, distributed with 30 local editions primarily in the Ruhr area. Unsere Kirche considers Friede und Freude its predecessor paper. In 1941, Friede und Freude had to cease publication under the Nazi regime.

In June 1946, the British military government issued the license for a newspaper named Neue Kirche, the Lizenz the article records, whose first issue appeared in the same month, on June 30, 1946, and henceforth fortnightly with a circulation of 250,000 copies. From 1951, it appeared weekly under the name Unsere Kirche, the wöchentliche Erscheinungsweise the infobox records. The editorial office was initially housed in the Von Bodelschwingh Foundations Bethel, the Von Bodelschwinghsche Stiftungen the article names.

Since 1972, the editorial office and publishing house have worked under the roof of the Evangelisches Medienhaus in Bielefeld-Brackwede, the Dach des Evangelischen Medienhauses the article records, together with further departments and institutions of the Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen. Since 2015, Unsere Kirche has appeared, in addition to the printed edition, also as an app for Android and Apple iOS, the App für Android und Apple iOS the article records.

Coverage and Content

The parish news journalism is the newspaper's core: the Gemeindenachrichten with the church districts' community news, the parish reports, and the local church event coverage. The 30-local-edition tradition of the Friede und Freude predecessor lives on in the regional supplements that the weekly carries.

The church politics journalism covers the regional church's governance: the Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen's synod decisions, the Lippische Landeskirche's developments, and the EKD-level debates that affect the Westphalian parishes. The theological journalism brings the faith debates to the readers, with the Bonhoeffer anniversary and the Holocaust history interviews as the historical-theological highlights.

The contemporary witness journalism documents the church's memory: the 1995 special supplements on the 1945-1949 new beginning and reconstruction, with the Recklinghausen church district's post-war history. The interviews with the witnesses of the Nazi era and the post-war reconstruction give the readers the church's lived history.

Unsere Kirche covers the Protestant church life in Westphalia and Lippe: the parish news, the church district reports, the regional church politics, and the theological debates that the Wochenzeitung der Evangelischen Kirche von Westfalen carries. The weekly issues carry the Gemeindenachrichten with the local supplements, like the Kirchenkreis Recklinghausen community news the bibliography's 1995 and 1996 citations document.

The newspaper's interview journalism brings the church personalities to the pages: the Bonhoeffer anniversary interview, the Holocaust history interviews, and the contemporary witness conversations the bibliography records as UK-Interviews. The historical journalism documents the Protestant church's post-war reconstruction, with the 1995 special supplements on the church districts' 1945-1949 new beginning.

The conversation forum function gives the readers the church debate platform: the Evangelische Kirchenzeitung und Gesprächsforum serves the parishes, church districts, and institutions as their discussion medium. The app's 2015 launch extended the weekly print rhythm to the mobile devices.

Organization and Ownership

Unsere Kirche is published by the Evangelischer Presseverband für Westfalen und Lippe e.V. in Bielefeld, the Bielefeld publisher the Christian press list records. The editor-in-chief is Gerd-Matthias Hoeffchen; the publisher and managing director is Bernd Becker, the Herausgeber and Geschäftsführer the infobox names. The newspaper's web presence runs under evangelische-zeitung.de.

Current editorial team details beyond the leadership are not publicly confirmed in the sources reviewed.

Digital Presence

Evangelische-zeitung.de is the newspaper's digital home, the Weblink the infobox records, with the weekly church news, the regional supplements, and the digital services. Since 2015, the Unsere Kirche app for Android and Apple iOS has extended the printed weekly to the mobile readers, the digitale Erweiterung the history section documents.

The unserekirche.de domain serves as the brand's web address, the slice row's listed website. Dedicated podcasts for the Unsere Kirche brand are not detailed in the sources reviewed; the brand's digital presence rests on its website, the 2015 app, and the weekly print newspaper's church journalism since 1951.