Leaving a church in Germany?

by Nika Bee 14 Replies latest jw friends

  • Weana
    Weana

    It seems, you did not understand my previous posting, so I will try it again:

    The "Standesamt" does not know to which religion you belong. The "Standesamt" is responsible just for people living in Germany. As you have been living in the United States, the Standesamt has no idea to which religion you might belong at the moment.

    Moreover, even if you would be living in Germany, the "Standesamt" cannot tell you, to which religion you are belonging. The Bethel does not provide "Standesamt" with a list of JWs. Legally, membership in a church is your personal decision, not the Standesamt's decision. Standesamt is just responsible to guarantee that a church respects the decision of its member to leave the church.

    So I does not make any sense for you to send a letter to "Standesamt":

    - you left Germany already, and are therefore no member of "JWs in Germany"

    - you DAed in USA, so you are not a member of JWs in the USA or in any other country

    - you cannot delete your church membership ex post facto from historical documents at Standesamt (if any such documents would exist; I strongly doubt it).

  • processor
    processor

    The registry office ("Standesamt") would be an option if you had a German passport and lived in Germany. But since you don't live here, there is no registry office that would be responsible for you. IMHO you should contact either the local JW congregation, or the JW congegration that you were baptized in.

  • Nika Bee
    Nika Bee

    Well, I am registered in Germany, I have a German passport and address and am just in the US on a student visa, that is about to expire.

  • Nika Bee
    Nika Bee

    But you are probably right, that it doesn't appear anywhere. I guess I am just a little bit paranoid...

  • processor
    processor

    If you have a German passport with a German address, you can contact the Standesamt there.

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