Die internationalen Gemeinden in Niedersachsen / The international churches in Lower Saxony
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)
The International Conference of Christian Churches (Hanover) is a free network of Christian churches from all over the world in Lower Saxony, which have agreed on ecumenical cooperation with each other and with the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover. Since 2018, the IKCG has had an observer status with the Association of Christian Churches in Lower Saxony (ACKN).
The members of the IKCG want to work towards the visible unity of the Church of Jesus Christ and bear witness together to God's loving care for the world in Jesus Christ. To this end, they contribute their spirituality, their tradition and their cultural identity and benefit from the experience of the other member churches as well as from the advocacy of the Landeskirche for its partner churches within the International Conference of Christian Congregations.
The congregations are committed to the basis of faith of the World Council of Churches: they are part of the “fellowship of churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior according to the Holy Scriptures and therefore seek to fulfill together what they are called to do, to the glory of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
Together with other Christian churches in Germany, the congregations see themselves as part of the body of Christ. They are committed to ecumenical cooperation with other congregations and churches, regardless of their language, culture and origin. On the biblical basis of John 15:12, the congregations commit themselves to solidarity. They want to do everything they can to avoid division and promote unity “that all may be one” (John 17:21).
The International Conference of Christian Churches is open to new members.