The Evangelischer Bund Hessen (Protestant League Hesse) is a registered society and works in close cooperation with the protestant churches in Germany. Its main goal is to promote theological education and the knowledge of the different Christian denominations as well as ecumenical understanding. Therefore, the Protestant League is the sponsor of the Denominational Institute (Konfessionskundliche Institut) in Bensheim in southern Hesse. The Evangelischer Bund Hessen is one of its regional associations. Inter alia, its mainly focuses on looking beyond the Hessian and German borders and examining the role of Protestantism in future Europe. In collaboration with the Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE) and the Center of Protestant Theology in Eastern Europe (ZETO), the Evangelischer Bund Hessen organises a conference for young theologians dealing with the tension in protestant churches between nationalism and cosmopolitism.
The CPCE – as a communion of protestant churches – unites 94 Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed and United Churches from over thirty countries in Europe and South America. Therefore, it represents altogether around 50 million Protestants. The CPCE came into existence because of the Leuenberg Agreement of 1973, which concluded: churches are allowed to be different because they appeal to the Gospel as their common basis.
The ZETO offers different types of education and training, all characterized by learning in an intercultural diaspora situation: German language courses, Bachelor in Protestant Theology, contact studies, guest vicariates, doctoral studies. Its work is not limited to the churches but creates an interface between church and society and therefore enters the cultural sphere.
The Digital Academy and the ecumenical conference are funded by the program ERASMUS+ of the European Union.