From Evangelical Focus.
The 74 per cent increase in baptisms over the last four years is the clearest sign of a shift in trend across its more than 500 churches, explains the Federation of Free Evangelical Churches in Germany.
The Federation of Free Evangelical Churches in Germany said it counted 504 congregations and 40,933 members as of Dec. 31, 2025, and reported a rise in baptisms that it called the clearest change in its recent statistics.
According to the federation’s press release, issued Aug. 28, the number of people baptized on profession of faith rose from 1,491 to 2,624 over four years, an increase of about 76%. The number of baptismal services in the same period rose from 554 to 822.
The figures cover a small segment of German Christianity. Evangelicals are estimated at roughly 2% to 3% of Germany’s population of about 84 million. The direction of travel, however, runs against that of the country’s two largest churches, the mainline Protestant Church (EKD) and the Roman Catholic Church, which reported a combined loss of about 1.2 million members during 2025.
The federation, known in German as the Bund Freier evangelischer Gemeinden (FeG), draws its data from internal statistics rather than state registers. Member churches are asked to report their figures every two years; the returns are checked for plausibility and reviewed by regional officers before being compiled.
Several of the comparisons in the release are measured from 2021, when public health restrictions in Germany limited gatherings, baptisms and worship services.
Reported conversions and baptisms
The federation said member churches reported some 2,700 “decisions for faith in Jesus Christ” in the most recent two-year reporting period. It described this as higher than any comparable period in recent years, adding that the figure was regularly below 2,000 up to 2021 and stood at about 2,400 in 2023.