The Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) is the ‘first-born’ among the ‘Basel Churches’. It emerged from the work of the Basel Mission in 1828 and has been independent since 1926. With just under 800,000 members, it is one of the biggest Protestant churches in the country – and its membership is growing. Apart from the growing population, this growth is due to its continued missionary outreach.

Church life revolves around worship. Services are organised in particular by associations of children and youth, men and women, along with various music groups and choirs. In addition, the PCG is active in the area of education, peacebuilding, agricultural development and health. For example, the church is responsible for five hospitals and more than 25 smaller infirmaries.

In 1737 the Moravian missionary Georg Schmidt disembarked at the Cape. He founded a mission  station called Genadendal (valley of grace) which grew into one of the largest provinces of the worldwide Moravian Church. The Moravian Church in South Africa (MCSA) today has over 80,000 members in 90 congregations. It has set itself the goal of connecting its proclamation, social services and education. The church serves poor and marginalised groups in its diaconal institutions and in projects.

Via the EMS Ecumenical Youth Volunteer Programme, young people provide social services in MCSA organisations, e.g. in the Elim Home for children and youth with disabilities. In the last few years the MCSA has experienced increasing financial difficulties. The church’s financial capacity was overstretched as it tried to keep up with paying ministerial stipends along with maintaining and renovating buildings. Thanks to the support from the EMS Fellowship, the survival of the MCSA has been assured.

The Church of South India (CSI) is the biggest member church of the EMS Fellowship and one of the largest churches in Asia. 3,500 pastors work in 15,000 parishes with almost four million parishioners. The parishes are organized in 24 dioceses in the five southern states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Most church members live in rural areas, three quarters of them being Dalits, the name preferred by a large group outside the traditional caste system (formerly known as “untouchables”).

The CSI is a United Church, bringing together Reformed, Methodist and Anglican traditions. Some of their parishes arose from the work of the Basel Mission, which has worked in India since 1834. Diakonia, mission and evangelisation, environmental protection, pastoral questions, along with youth and women’s work are just some of the areas in which the church is active.

The Moluccas reveal the fragility of the state of Indonesia. The islands were long considered a model of religious tolerance and coexistence. In 1999, however, this system collapsed. Ethnic and religious conflicts broke out. By 2002 thousands of people had fl ed the violence. The Evangelical Christian Church in Halmahera (GMIH), the biggest island of the Moluccas, which has been organised independently since 1949, suffered a great risk to its survival. Since then the church has performed major reconstruction work and many congregations are again very lively. It has 150.000 members in 157 congregations.

On 11 November 1931, 12 men and women were baptised in the Yeh Poh River. That marked the founding of the Christian Protestant Church in Bali (Bali Church, GKPB). Today it has 14,000 members. In all, Bali has four million inhabitants. Besides the Bali Church there are 60 other Christian denominations on the island with about 42,000 members.

The GKPB feels called to preserve church unity. For that reason it does not found any congregations outside the island, although more than 75 percent of Balinese Christians do not live in Bali. The church recommends that they join the local churches wherever they live. Through this attitude it seeks to give its blessing to the other churches and nations.

The Evangelical Christian Church in Minahasa (GMIM) in the North of the island of Sulawesi is one of the few churches with a large membership in Indonesia. 70 percent of the regional population belong to it. With its Christian University, a hospital and a centre for the village health services, with schools and colleges, the GMIM makes a substantial contribution to the life of society.

Protestantism in Minahasa goes back to the mission work of the Dutch Missionary Society in the 19th century. In 1934 the GMIM became independent. Today it has about 800,000 members in more than 800 congregations, served by 450 male pastors and nearly 1000 women pastors. Women traditionally have a strong position in Minahasa culture.

The history of the Christian Church of South Sulawesi (GKSS) is shaped by the conflicting social coexistence with Muslims. It began in the 19th century as part of the Dutch church for government officials and become independent in 1949. After the Second World War, its members were exposed to persecution. Its numbers dwindled from 10,000 to 600 in 1952. Today a good 6,000 people belong to it – mostly rural families. The church works hard at improving the lives of its members. It runs two girls’ hostels and a training centre for village development work.

The Protestant Indonesian Church in Luwu (GPIL) in South Sulawesi is a church of small farmers and day labourers. It has about 20.000 members. Many of the 114 congregations are located in remote mountain regions and only accessible on foot. The people there attach great importance to their church’s educational programme and spiritual support. Thanks to the EMS Fellowship, they participate in international ecumenical activities.

Luwu is the largest rural district in the province of South Sulawesi and covers the former territory of a Toraja king. Dutch missionaries who looked after the entire Toraja region also started their work in Luwu at the start of last century. The resulting parishes separated from the Toraja mother church in 1966 to concentrate on Luwu as an independent church.

The Protestant Indonesian Church in Donggala (GPID) is young. It was founded in 1965 in order to unite Christians from different ethnic groups. The church, based in Central Sulawesi, consists of 170 congregations with about 32,000 members, who are served by about 90 pastors. They run several schools and an adult education centre.

Originally the congregations belonged to the Evangelical Christian Church in Minahasa (GMIM), a church in the far north of Sulawesi. Since the 19th century, teachers and officials from the Minhasa region have resettled in Donggala. At the start they were served by Minahasa pastors from the Protestant church there, later by the GMIM. Due to the distance, the congregations were merged into one church in 1965.

Dutch missionaries took up their work in South-East Sulawesi in 1915. The first congregations arose. In 1942 their work was interrupted by the Second World War. On the order of the Japanese occupying forces the missionaries left the country, but returned after the war. It was thanks to their eff orts that the Protestant Church in South-East Sulawesi (GEPSULTRA) was founded in 1957.

In the first ten years of its existence, the church was exposed to attacks by a militant regional Muslim movement and fought for its survival. It took until the end of the 1960s for life to become easier for the Christians. GEPSULTRA was able to bring its scattered congregations together and to grow, thanks to immigrants from other regions of Indonesia. At present, its members come from 14 diff erent ethnic groups. It numbers around 36,000 members in 127 congregations.

An act of baptism marks the launch of the Toraja Church (GT) in the province of South Sulawesi. In May 1913, 20 Toraja were baptised by a teacher of the Dutch colonial church for government officials. Today the church, governed by presbyteries and synods, has about 650,000 members in over 700 congregations. In its core area, the Toraja highland, three quarters of the population are Christians.

Furthermore, there are congregations in different regions of South Sulawesi and on a number of islands, where Christians are the minority. They are currently experiencing the unrest and tension among Christians and Muslims in the Indonesian society. The Toraja Church is therefore extremely concerned to see democracy and religious freedom preserved in the multi-ethnic state.

The Toraja Mamasa Church (GTM) has traces back to the work of Dutch missionaries and has been independent since 1947. Two thirds of its members live in the remote high valley of West Toraja in West Sulawesi. Other congregations are in South Sulawesi, in Jakarta, the capital, and in Palu in Central Sulawesi. The Toraja Mamasa Church consists of about 135.000 members in 577 congregations and 65 deaneries. It employs about 170 pastors.

As the largest religious community in the region, the Toraja Mamasa Church feels a responsibility to help shape social interaction. That is why it is involved in youth work and adult education. GMT is also committed to maintaining and improving the infrastructure in the region: it maintains various schools, an agricultural development centre and a hospital.

The Christians in Japan know how diaspora feels. Only about one percent of the Japanese population belongs to a Christian church. In all there are only about 650.000 Protestants. 200.000 of them belong to the United Church of Christ in Japan (KYODAN). With about 1.700 congregations and about 2.200 pastors it is the biggest Protestant church in the country.

KYODAN is a missionary church that attaches great importance to evangelisation. However, it is also a political church, that takes a stand on social issues, e.g. when it comes to sharing responsibility for atrocities during World War II, when Japanese troops occupied many neighbouring countries. Commitment to peace, reconciliation and environmental protection is part of KYODAN’s identity. In 2014 it organised an international conference on the myth of nuclear safety and came out clearly against nuclear energy.

With 340,000 members and about 1,450 congregations, the PROK is one of the smaller churches in the country, in which more than one quarter of the population avows itself to the Christian faith. 1,900 pastors and over 2,800 elders serve the congregations.

Human rights, democratization, social justice, peace and reunification on the Korean  Peninsula – these are not slogans for the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (PROK), but part of its self-understanding. This has its roots, above all, in the period of various military dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s. The church also deals with topics such as ecology and sustainable development.

In South Korea more than a quarter of the population belong to a Christian church, 19 percent are Protestants. Their share is higher than in any other country in Asia. The Presbyterian Church of Korea (PCK) consists of 6,300 congregations with over 2.2 million members and about 8,600 pastors. It is one of the biggest churches in the country.

The PCK combines a variety of interests. Evangelisation and world mission enjoy great status in the PCK. At present about a thousand missionaries work in 82 countries. Another focal point is caring for creation. The church is committed to an environmentally friendly, sustainable lifestyle as well as to peace and reunification on the Korean peninsula.

The Protestant Church in Baden has about 1.13 million members in 640 communities and 24 church districts. The church administration is based in Karlsruhe. About 1,000 pastors preach in the congregations, give religious instruction and carry out cross-regional services – together with other professionals and many voluntary workers. The involvement of volunteers is particularly important in children’s and youth work, and also to provide church music.

About 200 years ago, the Protestant Church in Baden was founded as a United Church with a combined Lutheran and Reformed tradition. The certificate of Union of 1821 reads that it is “one in itself and friends with Christians all over the world”. This ecumenical confession is groundbreaking. Offering people of different pieties a spiritual home and seeking fellowship with Christians worldwide has remained a central concern of the church to this day.

Proclamation, education, pastoral care, social responsibility and ecumenism: those are the central areas of action of the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau (EKHN). It is a United church with over 1.5 million members in 1,132 congregations. They come from Lutheran, Reformed or United traditions. The work in the regions takes place in 35 deaneries, which form five districts.

The church’s aim in its ecumenical commitment is Christian community and worldwide solidarity. The church’s greatest treasure is its members. Over 73,000 volunteers and about 1,550 pastors work in parishes, groups and associations. 40,000 children enjoy activities in nearly 600 childcare centres.

The Evangelical Church of Kurhessen- Waldeck is located at the heart of Germany. About 812,000 members live in 756 parishes, mostly in rural areas. Here the traditional ‘people’s church’ structures are still pretty stable. About 950 pastors work in the congregations and across parish borders as hospital chaplains, school chaplains or in women’s work. In addition, there are about 25,000 employees in church and diaconal ministries.

The EKKW wants to remain close to the people. That is why it is currently undergoing a reform process in order to live the gospel convincingly even in times of increasing secularisation. It is also certain of the support of its many partners in ecumenism. Together with Christians from all over the world, the EKKW stands up for justice, peace and the integrity of creation.

The Protestant Church of the Palatinate (EKP) currently has about 515,000 members in 402 congregations. Its main church is the Gedächtniskirche in Speyer. Ecumenism is particularly close to the heart of the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate: this includes good relations with the Catholic diocese of Speyer, but also partnerships within European and worldwide Protestantism.

Nevertheless, the church is not losing sight of its own characteristics and potential. Under the motto "Homeland - Church - Palatinate", it is moving the congregations into the centre of attention as a place of belonging in an increasingly confusing world. Giving people support and a feeling of cohesion is an important topic for the Protestant Church of the Palatinate.

The Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Württemberg (ELK-WUE) has almost two million members in about 1,300 parishes. It is the sixth largest of the 20 member churches of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). The main church of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Württemberg is the Stiftskirche in Stuttgart.

A distinctive characteristic of the church is its close connection with Pietism, a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with the Reformed emphasis on individual piety and living a vigorous Christian life. Many of the Württemberg missionaries who carried the gospel to Africa and Asia for the Basel Mission came from pietistic backgrounds. They laid the foundation for building local churches e.g. in India and Ghana. The Württemberg church still keeps up many relations to ecumenical partners abroad.

The Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine (Moravian Church in Germany) is well-known for its “Daily Texts”, which are now translated into 60 languages each year. It is less known that the Brüdergemeine is one part of the 29 church provinces of the Moravian Church worldwide, which number over one million members (5,800 in Germany).

Its roots lie in the Czech Reformation of the 15th century and in German Pietism of the 18th century. The founding father of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine was Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf. People from Moravia fleeing on religious grounds found refuge on his estate in Upper Lusatia (Germany) and there founded the town of Herrnhut in 1722. Ten years later, the “Herrnhuters” decided to go out into the world and launch the missionary activity that has since remained a typical feature of the Moravian Church.

The Episcopal Church is sometimes called the Anglican Church. The diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East arose out of the joint Prussian-Anglican diocese (1841-1886). Today it has over 27 parishes in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. In a region massively hit by the Israel-Palestine confl ict, the Syrian civil war and the presence of millions of refugees, the church stands up for mutual respect, reconciliation and peace.

The Episcopal Church has close ties with the Evangelical Mission in Solidarity via the Theodor Schneller School (TSS) in Amman and the Evangelical Association for the Schneller Schools (EVS). Then there is the Arab Episcopal School, an inclusive school in Irbid, also in Jordan, that above all caters for blind and partially sighted children. Young people from the EMS Youth Volunteers Programme regularly spend time in these two educational institutions, and also in the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf in the Jordanian town of Salt.

The National Evangelical Church of Beirut (NECB) is small but influential. It was founded in 1848 and enjoys great prestige, above all owing to its educational activities. As the church responsible for the Johann Ludwig Schneller School (JLSS), the NECB cooperates closely with the Evangelical Association for the Schneller Schools (EVS). It supports the “Near East School of Theology” (NEST), an interconfessional seminary serving the Evangelical churches in the Middle East. Also Pastors and students from Germany can deepen their knowledge of the churches in the Middle East there.

Another current priority of the NECB is working with refugees. The church provides school places for Syrian refugee children and offers lone refugee mothers vocational training. Furthermore, in cooperation with partner organisations it has founded a preschool for internally displaced children in Syria.

God’s spirit unites people – also across national, denominational and cultural borders. For over 200 years now, this has been the experience of Basel Mission and mission 21, its successor organisations since 2001. The Basel Mission was founded in the city of Basel, Switzerland, in 1815. A year later it opened a seminary for prospective missionaries.

The first seminarians left in 1821 – for the Caucasus, later for Ghana, India and China, in order to tell people about the gospel of Christ. Many missionaries came from Germany, particularly from Württemberg. Constant support was given by Swabian Pietists, who prayed for the missionaries, donated money and constantly encouraged people to go to the mission field. 1954 saw the founding of Basel Mission German Branch (BMDZ), a registered association based in Stuttgart. It linked up with the historical legacy of the Basel Mission.

The German East Asia Mission (DOAM) is a liberal mission agency. Founded in 1884 by Swiss and German missionaries, it has always set great store by the study of different religions and dialogue with people of other faith. Its main contacts have been with China and Japan, and since the 1970s also with Korea.

The Association of Churches and Missions in South Western Germany (now the Evangelical Mission in Solidarity) and Berlin Mission were founded in the early 1970s. At the time, the DOAM contributed its connections and programmes and became part of the new missions. It nonetheless retained several responsibilities of its own. It holds services and events on the topic of East Asia, runs an annual study conference, produces a newsletter and runs its own website with up-to-date information. That way it participates in theological dialogue with, and within, East Asia in the conviction that Christians from East Asia have a lot to teach us.

Committed to democracy, human rights and justice, solidarity with the marginalised in East Asia and Germany is a major concern of DOAM.

A Swabian in Jerusalem: In 1854 Johann Ludwig Schneller moved to the Holy Land. A teacher, he came from Erpfingen in the Swabian Mountains. In Jerusalem he founded the “Syrian Orphanage” in 1860, which led to the establishment of the Johann Ludwig Schneller School in Lebanon and the Theodor Schneller School in Jordan. There, children from needy or broken families receive a general education and vocational training.

The schools are committed to peaceful relations across religious boundaries. They bear witness to Christian love of the neighbour. The schools are now fully run by the local EMS member churches in Lebanon and Jordan. The work is supported by the Evangelical Association for the Schneller Schools (EVS) and the Schneller Foundation – Education for Peace.

The Basel Mission – German Branch (BMDZ) has its office in Stuttgart. It emerged in 1954 from the Basel Mission, founded in 1815, and continues to carry on its historical legacy. The BMDZ works together with Christians from all over the world. These contacts and relationships with churches in Africa, Asia and Latin America have grown over many decades of missionary work.

The BMDZ supports its partners in the areas of medical care for disadvantaged people, poverty reduction and community development, and theological, educational and vocational training. Together with its sister organisation Mission 21, the BMDZ supports many programmes around the globe. Respectful interaction between different spiritual backgrounds and different religions forms the basis of its work.

The Moravian Mission Society in Germany (HMH), based in Bad Boll, is the missionary society of the Moravian Church in Germany. It supports more than 60 projects in nine countries. Its work dates back to the missionary activities of the Herrnhut Unity of Brethren, which began its missionary activities in the Caribbean in 1732 and has since then grown and developed.

Today HMH maintains relations with partner churches in East and South Africa, Northern India and Central America. In the West Bank it is responsible for the "Star Mountain Rehabilitation Center", a support centre for children and young people with disabilities. In Europe it supports the work of the Moravian Church in Albania and Latvia. In Germany, HMH is responsible for the "Haltestelle" in Cottbus, an open house for all those who want to get to know the Christian faith and want to experience the Christian community.

The Church of North India (CNI) has about 2.2 million members in 4,500 communities, led by roughly 2,206 pastors. They are spread across 22 of the 28 Indian states. The CNI was formed in 1970 from six churches of different Protestant denominations. It supports 65 hospitals and runs roughly 560 secondary schools and multiple vocational training centres. The CNI has maintained partnerships with the Protestant Church in Hesse and Nassau (EKHN) and the educational aid section of the Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck (EKKW) for roughly 30 years.

The Christian Church in West Sulawesi (GKSB) split from the Toraja Mamasa Church in Sulawesi in 1977, due to the geographical distances. The church’s 20,000 members live in 105 communities in rural areas in west, south and central Sulawesi. They are looked after pastorally by 49 pastors. In order to tackle the most pressing problem, the lack of pastors, the GKSB founded a Theological College in 2012, at which 80 young people are currently studying.