About us
Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland
The Evangelical (Lutheran) Church of the Augsburg Confession is the largest evangelical Church in Poland. It belongs to the family of Lutheran Churches with nearly 80 million members worldwide.
The Lutheran Church emerged as a result of the Reformation initiated by Martin Luther. On October 31, 1517 Luther announced his 95 theses against the abuse of penitential practices in the late Medieval Church. The theological outline of the Reformation is expressed by four rules: solus Christus (by Christ alone), sola gratia (by grace alone), sola fide (by faith alone) sola Scriptura (by Scripture alone). The solas have been determining the directions of actions and development of the Lutheran Church in Poland and abroad ever since.
The name of the Church refers to the Gospel (gr. euangélion) – the Good News about Jesus Christ – and the Reformation’s confession of faith read out in Augsburg to Emperor Charles V in 1530. The Augsburg Confession, compiled by Philip Melanchton, became one of the Lutheran symbolical books (The Lutheran Confessions). Confessions present Lutheran views of the Holy Scriptures.
The number of members of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession varies from region to region. The largest population lives in Cieszyn Silesia region, which constitutes nearly a half of 71, 00 Polish Lutherans. Smaller communities can be found in Upper Silesia and Masuria. Lutheran Parishes in the rest of the country are located in larger cities, and they vary from just a few to a few thousand members.
Number of Church Members: 70, 000
Number of Parishes: 133
Number of Filial Churches: 124
Number of Dioceses: 6
Evangelical Church means to me