The Protestant Church of Westphalia ( German : Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen , EKvW ) is a United Protestant church body in North Rhine-Westphalia .
The seat of the praeses ( German : Prases , the head of the church) is Bielefeld . The EKvW emerged on 13 June 1945, when the ecclesiastical province of Westphalia within the Lutheran Church of the old-Prussian Union assumed its independence as church body of its own. The EKvW is a full member of the Protestant Church in Germany (EKD), and the Reformed Alliance [1] and is a church whose bases are in a Union between parishes in Lutheran and Calvinistic traditions. The church is also a member of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe . Prases (president) of the EKvW is Annette Kurschus (2012), as its first female leader.
The church permits the ordination of women . Blessing of same-sex marriages has been allowed from 2019. [2] [3] [4]
52°01′16.98″N 8°31′59.16″E / 52.0213833°N 8.5331000°E / 52.0213833; 8.5331000