Status: 15.01.2024, 07:10 a.m.
By: Peter Reinbold
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The resignations from the church have local consequences (symbolic photo). © Dpa
The high number of people leaving the church is causing financial problems for the parishes, because the income from the church tax is falling – also in the Murnau area. Ultimately, Christian schools and day-care centers would probably have to be closed. A horror scenario. Then the municipalities would have a duty.
Murnau – The figures are likely to dig deep worry lines into the foreheads of the German bishops and pastors of the two major Christian denominations. Although the number of people leaving the church in 2023 has not reached the level of 2022, it continues to move at dizzying heights - in Germany and in the region around Murnau. Why should the northern district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen be able to decouple itself from this trend and be an island of the blessed? At the registry office of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft (VG) Ohlstadt, which includes Ohlstadt as well as the municipalities of Eschenlohe, Großweil and Schwaigen, 2022 believers turned their backs on the two denominations in 127 - 108 Catholics, 19 Protestants. In 2023, 84 did so, compared to only 2018 in 37. 23 of them Catholic, 14 Protestant.
Church resignations in Murnau: 148 people took this step in 2023
In the past twelve months, 148 men and women have declared their resignation from either the Protestant or Catholic Church at the Murnau market. It was the second-highest figure in the past five years. Only in 2022, with 214, significantly more people turned away from the churches. The Murnau town hall was not in a position to break down the resignations by denomination, which the employees of the VG Ohlstadt succeeded in doing without any problems.
Munich abuse report 2022 probably acted like an accelerant
Siegbert Schindele believes he knows the reason why the decline in believers is proceeding at such a rapid pace. The priest, who heads the parish community of Murnau, Aidling-Riegsee and Eschenlohe, says that the Munich abuse report of 2022 has acted like an accelerant.
A view that could be true. The opinion research company Civey contacted former members of the Catholic Church in the special year of crisis and asked about their triggers. For almost half of the participants, the abuse scandals within the Catholic Church that have been occurring for years and the handling of them were an important reason. Only almost two-thirds of those surveyed cited the church tax as a reason for leaving the church, and thus even more.
Church tax is the biggest driver of resignations
Money is therefore the greatest driving force for believers to draw a line under it. "I can confirm that," says Schindele. He hears the financial argument again and again, as he writes to every member of the congregation by letter and asks them to reconsider the decision. "I often hear that you need the money for something else." Schindele's advice: You should simply take one less vacation a year and the money for the church tax is already recovered.
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Andreas Fach does not only want to shorten the resignations to the financial aspects, which certainly also play a role. "Many people no longer want to have anything to do with faith and God. That was different 20 years ago," says the Protestant pastor, who serves at Murnau's Christ Church.
Despite problems: Murnau churches "still well filled"
In the eyes of church sociologist Detlef Pollack, wanting to save church taxes is a logical consequence. More than 70 percent of church members do not participate in church life, according to Pollack: "This is a simple cost-benefit calculation: 'I am leaving because I do not use the services of the church.'" In Murnau and the surrounding area, things seem to be different. "Our churches are still well filled," Schindele emphasizes. The same applies to the Christuskirche. After the Corona hole, more believers are coming to church services again.
As a rule, the church tax amounts to nine percent of wage and income tax. In Bavaria, the figure is eight percent. The two major churches in Germany collected almost 2022 billion euros in church taxes in 13, according to a study by the German Economic Institute. The Catholic Church accounted for just under 6.8 billion euros, the Protestant Church about 6.1 billion euros.
Churches Will Be Forced to Save
The higher the number of resignations, the more revenues fall. Which does not bode well for the future. Less budget means that churches will be forced to cut back. Neither Schindele nor Fach leave any doubt that this will happen. It is likely to be a horror scenario for both citizens and municipalities that they are portraying. The first thing to do would probably be to close schools, then kindergartens. And last but not least, various churches can no longer be saved from decay. "I exclude the parish churches," says Schindele. Fach expresses himself in a similar way. Day-care centres would have to be returned to the municipalities, as would schools and care facilities. At present, about two-thirds of all day-care centres for children are in the hands of private, mainly Christian, organisations such as Caritas of the Catholic Church and Diakonie of the Protestant Church. If there were to be savings and cuts in this area, the situation is likely to become much more tense than it already is – with a strong impact on municipalities. Then the state has to step in and run the facilities itself, and that costs significantly more. Fach predicts "that we will then have tax increases".
Pastor Fach believes: Church tax is an obsolete model
However, he is sure that the church tax will not exist in its current form for much longer. He himself favours a social tax, as it already exists in Italy and France. Every citizen is asked to pay for them. Every taxpayer has the right to decide for himself for what purpose his money is used. "It can happen that one person thinks about the church one year and maybe Greenpeace the next," says Fach.
Consequences that Schindele does not approve of: "The development is sad beyond measure."
Job cuts: Pastor Feneberg leaves Murnau
By the way: The austerity measures due to a minus in the church tax, which has arisen due to the numerous resignations, does not stop at the establishment plan of the Protestant church in Murnau. A reduction from two and a half to only two pastorates is a fact. Simone Feneberg, who is responsible for the villages of Seehausen, Uffing, Eglfing, Spatzenhausen and Hofheim, is leaving Murnau at the end of June this year, according to Pastor Andreas Fach. "That's for sure," he says. It is still unclear to which municipality Feneberg will change. According to Fach, there are several possibilities. "A decision will be made in the coming months."