God Hirtinnen young.

Dusty, bulky, strange world? Von wegen. After years of decline, the specialist theology has been booming. In particular, women are interested in the Pfarrerjob: You want the church of tomorrow dominate - and the career prospects are not so bad.

 

Thaw in Leipzig. A roof avalanche crashes onto sidewalk, hair sharp they missed a group of students who are in a shop is pressing. What once was a sports business, now serves as a lecture hall at the Theological Faculty of the University of Leipzig. On the pavement it is now a centners wet snow, and a young woman laughs: "Even for us theology students do not come automatically from the top all the best."

Julia Baier
Theology is coming back: Students at St. Nicholas Church in Göttingen

Behind the large shop windows accumulate bunch and separate again, laughter is heard. Approximately 30 representatives of theological faculties in Germany are involved in this past January weekend arrived, the first annual meeting of the "Studierendenrats Evangelical Theology." Three days is about courses, re-shaping websites or the Information Booth at Kirchentag Bremer in May.

Four floors above cuts the 21-year-old Eva Finkenstein meanwhile carrots and leeks into strips, they and a few others have Leipziger supply with mattress and sleeping bag over visiting fellow - Youth Camp atmosphere. Eva studied in the 5th Semester theology. "So many," she says, "have never been in our store auditorium."

So many theology students, there was a long time: In the last winter semester were around 9,300 students enrolled for Protestant theology, two percent more than last year. 7400 were among Catholics.

For theologians, a "special" Numerus clausus "

"The theology has just been no numerus clausus," Gunkel says Sebastian, 20, he is doing with the cooking for the fellow. Does not quite, replied the 23-year-old Hanna Schramm. "Our special numerus clausus, the ancient languages, Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Since you have the basic first through!"

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Eva, Hanna, Sebastian - it could be Germany's pastors of tomorrow. While many want the young theologians teaching religion or theology have chosen as a minor. Strikingly, however, is: More and more it attracts students directly into the churches. Even four years ago there were only 364 first, which is a candidate for a Pfarrstelle in the lists of country churches eintrugen. In this winter semester are expected to be around 500.

The case of the Catholic church, in 2007 there were only 270 newly recorded priesthood candidates. The compulsion to celibacy is rather unattractive, it helps, even if the Pope anti-Semitic beliefs brothers, Holocaust deniers do, rehabilitated, and thus before the World foolish.

Why students want to be pastors?

What makes the Protestant Pfarrerjob attractive again in the eyes of many students? On the altar are preaching to take care of the sick and lonely, accompany the dying? "My mother," says Eva, "is a pastor in Mecklenburg and my father Bundeswehr pastor - but both have warned me, the parish should be."

Her mother had eleven villages with five churches to attend. "Beautiful, but too uncertain prospects," they warned. Perhaps it had not yet to the new situation on the labor market Protestant chen around.

In recent decades, startled the church from the young with new reports of savings and layoffs. The number of students halved from 1984 to 2004.

Meanwhile, the personnel manager of Protestants with flyers and talks to the young recruit. Training Officer Joachim Ochel by the EKD headquarters in Hanover, speaks of an "identifiable needs of the country's churches." In the next decade should be a year about 350 new parish offices to be filled. "It is a great retirement wave to us."

"We women are the picture of the church to determine"

The junior is the fact that the generational change, the church also lost its stale image. "In the future we will be more women than ever before, the image of the Protestant Church to determine," says Hanna, while the soup for 30 people umrührt. Among the theology students are women, with around 60 percent already in the majority. "Every time", is Eva funny, "if I am a hairdresser and ask, 'What thou studierst', comes to my answer, theology, a horrified 'So siehste but not out!"'.

"How someone looks, which believes in God?" asked Sebastian. People of all this world and in any event not disinclined. Eva finds just cool in this study that it is socially significant. " Hanna praised the tray as diverse and cosmopolitan. Indeed, the discipline in times of ongoing specialization of one of the few remaining strongholds for generalists: psychology, law, education, science, linguistics, all of these subjects play a role. Curriculum and conclusion are consistent across Germany, the bachelor has not for some time now. Thus the change between the 22 evangelical colleges and faculties problem.

The widespread nature of work are: Military or hospital chaplain, dying, Internet ministry, adult education, supervision and social work, and sometimes project management, personnel management, journalism.