Germany's Vereinigung Evangelischer Freikirchen (VEF — Association of Evangelical Free Churches) marked its 100th anniversary on 29 April 2026 with a centennial celebration under the motto 100 Jahre gemeinsam stark — "100 years strong together."
The VEF is the umbrella body that unites Germany's evangelical free churches, including the Bund Freier Evangelischer Gemeinden (FeG), in joint public witness and cooperative ministry. Its century-long history spans the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich (a period of particular courage and cost for dissenting free churches), the postwar reconstruction, German reunification, and the present era of secular decline and renewed missional focus.
Free churches in Germany have historically occupied a distinct position: smaller than the state-church bodies, but characterised by voluntary membership, congregational governance, and a strong emphasis on personal faith — the hallmarks of the free evangelical tradition. The VEF gives this family of churches a shared voice in Germany's ecumenical and public landscape.
The anniversary was noted by the FeG national body, whose Theological University in Ewersbach remains one of the VEF's most significant shared institutions. The FeG, with approximately 42,000 members across more than 500 congregations, is a member of the International Federation of Free Evangelical Churches (IFFEC).
Source: FeG Deutschland
