German churches to struggle with clergy shortage in coming years 

Germany’s established churches are facing a shortage of tens of thousands of clergy in the coming years, according to a media report released Saturday.

The Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK) estimates that some 7,000 of the 13,500 current positions for priests will be vacant by 2030, committee president Thomas Sternberg told Focus magazine.

Sternberg said that in future, lay members of the church will have to step in and take over tasks that have been the preserve of ordained priests until now.

The Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD)- a federation of Lutheran, Reformed (Calvinist) and United Protestant regional churches and denominations in Germany – faces similar problems, according to the report.

The EKD projects that the number of ministers will fall by a third from 21,000 currently to 14,000 by 2030, creating a huge staffing problem, the head of the church, Andreas Kahnt, told Focus.

Source: dpa