ELKiB

What ELKiB does

ELKiB (Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Baden) is an independent Lutheran church and recognized public-law corporation (Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts) operating in the Baden region of Germany. Founded in 2006 and organized as a Stiftung (foundation), it serves approximately 2,500–3,000 members across six congregations (Gemeinden), with the largest in Pforzheim (~1,000 members) and the smallest in Lörrach-Steinen (~160 members). The organization is led by Superintendent Dr. João Carlos Schmidt as President of the Church Council (Kirchenvorstand) and is a member of both the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen in Baden (ACK) and Freikirchen in Baden.

The entity delivers congregational services, pastoral care, and religious programming through a paid headcount of 17 staff, with pastors compensated at 75% of the A14 Baden-Württemberg civil servant pay scale. Its physical assets include heritage-listed buildings such as the Pforzheim church and the parsonage in Ispringen, which are maintained and renovated through the Stiftung. The organization's digital surface is limited to a WordPress website integrated with Google Maps, Google Fonts, Google Analytics, and YouTube, with no proprietary technology products.

ELKiB's revenue model is donation-based, reliant on voluntary contributions (Kirchgeld, Spenden) from members and rental income from congregation-owned buildings, with no commercial pricing, go-to-market motion, or paying customer segments. The organization is a confessional breakaway from the Evangelische Kirche in der Union (EKD) and is affiliated with the Bund Evangelisch-Lutherischer Kirchen in Deutschland; consequently, its strategic posture is institutional and pastoral rather than transactional. The current operational state includes four vacant pastoral positions across congregations, signaling both a recruitment challenge and a planned capacity restoration.

Name

ELKiB

Legal name

Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Baden

Website

https://elkib.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ELKiB is an independent Evangelical-Lutheran church and public-law corporation in Baden, Germany, serving roughly 2,500–3,000 members across six congregations through 17 paid staff, funded by voluntary donations and pastoral compensation aligned to the A14 Baden-Württemberg civil servant scale.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Organization Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Local Congregations & Worship Communities (Churches, Mosques, Temples, Synagogues) (BPAGAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Denominational & Ecclesiastical Governance Bodies (Dioceses, Synods, Conferences) (BPAGAJAB), Faith-Based Education & Formation (Seminaries, Religious Schools, Catechesis) (BPAGAJAD)

Keywords

• Lutheran church services
• Pastoral care sacraments
• Religious education
• Congregational worship services
• Faith community fellowship

Headquarters

HQ city

Karlsruhe

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Voluntary member contributions: The church operates through voluntary tithes, offerings, and donations from congregation members. No specific pricing is charged for religious services such as baptism, confirmation, marriage, or funeral rites.

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ELKiB is an independent Lutheran church that delivers religious services across six congregations in the Baden region of Germany, from Pforzheim to Lörrach-Steinen. Its core offerings include regular Sunday worship services (Gottesdienste) with Holy Communion, lifecycle sacraments (baptism, confirmation, marriage, funeral), pastoral care, religious education (confirmation instruction), and community fellowship programs such as choirs, brass ensembles, and discussion circles. A foundation (Stiftung der ELKiB), established in 2006, provides supplementary funding for staff training, diaconal tasks, church music, and building renovations.

Product overview

The Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Baden (ELKiB) is a self-governing Lutheran church operating six congregations across Baden, Germany. Its core offering is pastoral care and worship — regular Sunday Gottesdienste (worship services with Holy Communion), lifecycle rites (Taufe, Konfirmation, Trauung, Trauerfeier), and community circles (Gemeindekreise) such as choirs and women's groups. A Stiftung (foundation, est. 2006) supports diaconal tasks, church music, and building renovations. Individual congregations publish Gemeindebriefe (parish newsletters) and Predigttexte (sermon texts) as supplementary offerings. ELKiB is not a technology product company — it has no public API, no AI-powered features, and no software product launches.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Stiftung der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche in Baden: Foundation established in 2006 to support church activities including staff training, charitable work, church music, and building renovations

Products and services

• Pastoral Services Pastoral care and sacramental rites including baptism (Taufe), confirmation (Konfirmation), wedding (Trauung/Hochzeit), and funeral/bereavement (Trauerfall) rites, delivered by ordained pastors across all six congregations to members and the wider community.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen (ACK) - Working Group of Christian ChurchescoreOthersELKiB is a member of the Working Group of Christian Churches (ACK), which is an ecumenical organization bringing together different Christian churches in Germany. Through this membership, ELKiB recognizes baptisms performed by other member churches and participates in ecumenical dialogue and cooperation.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Kirchensteuer-finanzierte Landeskirchen (general peer set): Germany's state-funded Protestant Landeskirchen collectively. These are the dominant players in regional German Protestant ministry and represent the broad-incumbent competitive set against which small independent churches like ELKiB position themselves on theological grounds.
• Evangelische Landeskirche in Baden: The regional Protestant (unierte) church serving the same Baden geography from which ELKiB differentiated itself. It is a broad incumbent providing overlapping worship, pastoral, and sacramental services across the same territory, but as a larger, ecumenically unified body rather than a confessional Lutheran body.
• Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD): The umbrella organization of German Protestant Landeskirchen. While ELKiB sits outside EKD membership, EKD is the dominant institutional counterpart for the country's Protestant worship, education, and diaconal activity and defines the broader competitive and ecumenical context.

Regional players

• Katholisches Bistum Freiburg: The Catholic diocese covering the same Baden geography. Operates the same rites-of-passage (Taufe, Konfirmation/Firmung, Trauung, Beerdigung) and parish infrastructure as ELKiB and competes for the same regional member pool, but from a Catholic rather than Lutheran tradition.
• Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern: Regional Lutheran church in Bavaria with similar parish-based delivery of worship, confirmation instruction, and pastoral care. Operates in a different German state but mirrors ELKiB in theological orientation and lifecycle ministry model.
• Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Württemberg: A neighboring regional Lutheran church body with comparable theological roots and congregational structure. Comparable on confessional Lutheran worship, sacramental ministry, and parish-based governance, though serving a different German state (Württemberg).

Direct peers

• Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche (SELK): SELK is the umbrella federation of independent/confessional Lutheran congregations in Germany. ELKiB operates under a comparable independent-Lutheran identity and is organizationally structured similarly to SELK member parishes, making it the closest direct peer for theological stance and congregational model.

Others

• Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche: German Reformed Protestant church body. Shares the Protestant/parish-based operating model and overlapping ACK ecumenical space with ELKiB, but differs theologically (Reformed rather than Lutheran), making it an adjacent comparable rather than a direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/elkib

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ELKiB