Evangelical Mission in Solidarity

Mission moves – joins together – opens

Logo: Evangelical Mission in Solidarity

Mission moves – joins together – opens
The Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS) is a community of 23 churches and five mission societies on three continents – in Indonesia, India, Japan, South Korea, Jordan and Lebanon, in South Africa, Ghana and in Germany. Its members also include the Deutsche Ostasienmission (DOAM), the Evangelical Association for the Schneller Schools (EVS) and the Basel Mission – German Branch (BMDZ). The churches that are direct members of the EMS have a combined membership of around 23 million people. Since 2012, the EMS has been an international community with equal rights for all 28 member organizations. The committees of the EMS are internationally staffed, and the working language of all committees is English.

The EMS bears witness in word and deed to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to all people and cooperates in the fulfillment of His mission. It is especially committed to the rights of those who are vulnerable, poor and marginalized. It promotes respectful interaction across cultures and religions. The EMS lives in partnerships through mutual empowerment and solidarity, mutual learning, joint planning, decision-making and action, and sharing of resources and skills.

Mission of the EMS
The EMS raises to an international level the mission that all Christians have: “God wants all people to be helped and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4)”. That is their assignment. That is their mission.

  • The EMS implements joint missionary programs.
  • It supports its member churches locally.
  • The EMS stands by its members in crises.
  • It raises its voice on behalf of its members.
  • It supports the exchange of personnel among its member churches.
  • It accompanies the partnership work of its members.
  • The EMS promotes ecumenical learning and intercultural exchange.
  • It financially supports missionary and theological projects of its members.
  • It supports social welfare and education.

Exchange Across Borders
A pastor from Ghana working as an ecumenical employee in a congregation in South Africa; a young woman from India living as a volunteer in a city in Hesse and working in the Protestant kindergarten; a theology student from Württemberg learning about Japanese religions and the witness of the Christian minority in the midst of them in Kyoto – they are all practicing what is meant in the EMS by “sharing through cross-border witness and service”. They share experiences, knowledge, faith, commitment to justice and peace with people of other countries, denominations and cultures. They share with each other, work and pray together, and learn from each other. Such exchange across borders is one of the core tasks of the EMS.

Committees
51 delegates of the EMS community decide every two years in the plenary assembly the content-related direction of the EMS and its long-term strategy.

The international board of directors, the 17-member Mission Council, meets twice a year. It makes fundamental decisions on the current programs of the EMS. A three-member Presidium leads the General Assembly and the Mission Council and ensures that the resolutions are implemented. The management of the administrative office coordinates with the Presidium on important issues.

The administrative office in Stuttgart works on behalf of the EMS community as a center of competence for consultation, networking and coordination, information and education, personnel exchange, program and project promotion and joint action. The General Secretary since April 2020 is Rev. Dr. Dieter Heidtmann from the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg.


Evangelical Mission in Solidarity
Vogelsangstr. 62
70197 Stuttgart

Tel.: +49 711 63 678-0
Fax: +49 711 63 678 45

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www.ems-online.org

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