Stiftung Creative Kirche

What Stiftung Creative Kirche does

Stiftung Creative Kirche is a Witten-based non-profit foundation, established in 1993, that operates as the self-described largest German Protestant provider of pop and gospel music projects and events. Its core offerings are large-scale chormusicals (such as Bethlehem 2026, Judith und das Wunder der Schöpfung 2027, Martin Luther King, Pop-Oratorium Luther, and Amazing Grace) staged in major German arenas, complemented by community choirs in Witten (SoulFamily, SoulTeens, SoulChildren) and the biennial European Gospel Festival. The organization also runs the Ev. Pop-Akademie for music continuing education and produces digital faith content including the bi-weekly YouTube Wohnzimmergottesdienst and the SingCommunity online vocal-training platform.

The foundation is funded through a diversified mix of ticket sales (processed via subsidiary Creative Kirche Medien GmbH), tax-deductible donations (one-time, recurring, and Zustiftungen from €10,000), subscription fees for local choirs and the SingCommunity platform, merchandise sales (CDs, DVDs, scores, vouchers), and corporate sponsorship. GTM is event-driven: grassroots participation through regional choirs and partner church districts (10+ Kirchenkreise across Germany) funnels into arena-scale productions, supported by an integrated marketing stack of YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, multi-list newsletters, and PR. The organization operates with approximately 40 full-time employees and up to 200 volunteers, is supervised by the Evangelische Kirche von Westfalen, and is currently fundraising €500,000 toward the €2.8 million purchase of its Ruhrstraße 48 headquarters.

Name

Stiftung Creative Kirche

Legal name

Stiftung Creative Kirche

Website

https://creative-kirche.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Stiftung Creative Kirche is a German non-profit foundation that produces large-scale Protestant pop and gospel chormusicals in major arenas, runs local choirs and the Ev. Pop-Akademie in Witten, and operates digital worship and vocal-training platforms for nationwide and European audiences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Choral Productions

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131), Musical Groups and Artists (71113)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Performing Arts Organizations (Theater, Dance, Opera, Music) (BPAGAHAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Religious & Spiritual Festivals/Observances (Public Events) (MPAGAEAC), Concerts & Music Festivals (THAJAFAA)

Keywords

• Choral musicals
• Gospel festivals
• Music education
• Church services
• Worship programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Witten

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Sale of tickets for choral musicals, concerts, and events through creative-kirche-shop.de. The Creative Kirche Medien GmbH acts as intermediary/agent for ticket sales on behalf of event organizers.
2. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Tax-deductible donations supporting the foundation's projects and operations. Donations can be directed to specific projects or general foundation work. Regular (monthly) or one-time donation options available.
3. Chor Membership Fees: Monthly membership fees for local choirs including SoulFamily (10€/month), SoulTeens (10€/month), and SoulChildren (7€/month)
4. Product Sales: Sale of merchandise including CDs, DVDs, musical scores, and other products through the online shop
5. Corporate Sponsorship and Partnerships: Financial support from companies, churches, and organizations through donations, project-specific grants, and sponsorship arrangements
6. SingCommunity Subscription: Monthly (7.90€) or annual (79€) subscription for online singing platform access including vocal training, choir rehearsals, and community features

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Stiftung Creative Kirche produces and performs large-scale Christian choral musicals staged at major German arenas, organizes gospel festivals (including the Gospelkirchentag), runs recurring worship services, and offers music continuing-education programs through the Evangelische Pop-Akademie. It also operates the SoulFamily choir network (with SoulChildren and SoulTeens feeder programs) and a digital worship offering (Creative Kirche Online / Wohnzimmergottesdienst) to engage audiences beyond physical venues.

Product overview

Stiftung Creative Kirche operates a multi-faceted church and music ministry organized around three interconnected pillars: large-scale choral musical productions (chormusicals like Bethlehem, Judith und das Wunder der Schöpfung, Martin Luther King, and others), community worship services and local choir programs in Witten (SoulFamily, SoulTeens, SoulChildren), and online digital offerings including the Wohnzimmergottesdienst YouTube channel and SingCommunity platform. The foundation also runs the Ev. Pop-Akademie for music education and hosts the biennial European Gospel Festival. Tickets, vouchers, and merchandise are sold through the creative-kirche-shop.de online portal. The organization positions itself as the largest Protestant provider of pop and gospel music projects and events in Germany, serving participants and audiences nationwide while maintaining local roots in Witten, North Rhine-Westphalia.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SoulChildren: Choir for children aged 7-11 years in Witten
• SoulTeens
• SoulFamily
• Wohnzimmergottesdienst
• SingCommunity
• European Gospel Festival
• Brot für die Welt-Chormarathon
• Ev. Pop-Akademie

Products and services

• Chormusicals (Large-Scale Christian Choral Musicals) Large-scale Christian choral musicals staged at major German arenas, combining professional artists with choir members recruited through the SoulFamily network. Targeted at Christian music fans, families, and church communities across Germany.
• Gospelkirchentag (Gospel Church Festival) Large-scale German gospel festival organized by the foundation, bringing together gospel choirs, workshops, and worship events for Christian music audiences across Germany.
• Evangelische Pop-Akademie Continuing-education program offering courses and workshops in pop, gospel, and contemporary worship music for church musicians, worship leaders, and aspiring performers.
• SoulFamily Choir Membership Subscription-based adult choir membership feeding performers into Chormusical productions, providing rehearsal-based community singing for adult participants.
• SoulTeens Witten Teen choir membership program preparing adolescent participants for involvement in larger choral productions and developing vocal and performance skills.
• SoulChildren Children's choir program recruiting young participants into the foundation's choral ecosystem and serving as the entry point for the SoulTeens and SoulFamily progression.
• Creative Kirche Online / Wohnzimmergottesdienst Streamed digital worship services and online faith content distributed via the foundation's online channels (including YouTube) to reach audiences beyond physical venues.
• Kindermusicals (Children's Musicals) Children-focused musical productions staged for family audiences, integrating younger choir participants into age-appropriate performance formats.
• Konzerte, Festivals & Reisen (Concerts, Festivals & Travel) Additional live concert, festival, and group travel programs offered by the foundation beyond the headline Chormusikal productions, including the European Gospel Festival.
• Tickets, Gift Vouchers & Shop Retail offering of event tickets, gift vouchers, and branded merchandise sold through the foundation's official online shop to support event attendance and fundraising.

Quantifiable outcome

• 42 days with 42 stages across Germany for the Brot für die Welt Chormarathon 2026
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and major.

• Brot für die WeltcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partner for choral projects, receiving donations collected during Chormusicals. The Brot für die Welt Chormarathon supports their nature conservation project in El Salvador.
• EKD (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization representing the Protestant Church in Germany, supporting Creative Kirche's mission and activities.
• Deutsche BahnminorGTM or Marketing PartnerTransportation partner providing travel support for events and participants.
• Evangelische Kirche von WestfalencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional Protestant church body that is the supervisory authority for Creative Kirche.
• SAP ArenamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenue partner for Chormusical Judith und das Wunder der Schöpfung 2027 performances in Mannheim.
• Porsche-Arena StuttgartmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVenue partner for Chormusical Judith und das Wunder der Schöpfung 2027 performances in Stuttgart.
• Christoffel-BlindenmissionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDevelopment organization partnering on international projects.
• Various Church Districts (Ev. Kirchenkreise)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegional church districts across Germany serve as local partners organizing choirs and audiences for productions. Partners include: Evangelischer Kirchenkreis Hattingen-Witten, Münster, Steinfurt-Coesfeld-Borken, Tecklenburg, Minden, Herford, Lübbecke, Vlotho, Koblenz, Bad Godesberg-Voreifel, An Sieg und Rhein, and others.
• Ev. Pop-AkademiecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRelated institution for Further Education - part of the Creative Kirche ecosystem, offering music education and workshops. Located at Ruhrstraße 48, Witten.
• European Gospel Festival / GospelkirchentagcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor gospel music festival initiative, with next event 15.-17.09.2028, organized in partnership with Creative Kirche.
• Kloster VolkenrodaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner location for annual retreat community gatherings (Auszeit im Kloster) in Thuringia.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• ERF Medien: A German Christian media organization producing radio, TV, and digital content. Comparable as a German non-profit faith-based media organization with multi-channel distribution, though it focuses on broadcast rather than live choral productions.
• World Vision Deutschland: A large German Christian NGO with significant donation fundraising and partnership structures. Comparable in operating model — German Stiftung-style non-profit, donation-driven, with corporate and church partnerships — though focused on development aid rather than music.
• Centricity Music: An independent Christian music publisher and label. Comparable as a Christian music organization with a content catalog and live-event component, though operating as a for-profit commercial music business rather than a Stiftung.
• Salvation Army Germany (Heilsarmee): The German branch of the Salvation Army operates worship services, community choirs, and brass-band music programs nationally. Comparable as a Christian organization running music-based community engagement in Germany, though with a broader social-service mandate.

Broad incumbents

• Bethel Music: A US-based Christian worship music label and community associated with Bethel Church. Comparable as a worship-music producer that runs choirs, concerts, and recordings at scale and distributes via digital channels.
• Hillsong Church: A global megachurch with a major worship-music platform and large-scale production capabilities. Comparable in combining contemporary Christian music production with a community and digital ministry model, though operating globally rather than within a single German regional church context.

Direct peers

• GMWA (Gospel Music Workshop of America): An international gospel music organization running workshops, conventions, and performances for choirs and gospel musicians. Directly comparable to Creative Kirche's choir-leadership and gospel-education mission, though US- rather than Germany-based.
• Gospelkirchentag / European Gospel Festival: A flagship German gospel festival and church congress that Creative Kirche both partners with and is directly comparable to: large-scale gospel music events, German Protestant church context, choir workshops, and worship programming.
• Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag (DEKT): The biennial German Protestant Kirchentag is a national church gathering with major music, worship, and choral components. Comparable in mission and audience to Creative Kirche's European Gospel Festival and Chormarathon programming.
• Passionsspiele Oberammergau: The Oberammergau Passion Play is a large-scale, professionally produced Christian theatrical/choral performance running in Germany for centuries. Directly comparable to Creative Kirche's Chormusicals in model — major-venue Christian productions with community participation — though on a longer cycle.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC_pgz1faYk4B11q9W4evW1g
• Facebookfacebook.com/creativekirche
• Instagraminstagram.com/creative_kirche
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stiftung-creative-kirche

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 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 Stiftung Creative Kirche