Constitution démocratique et Eglise populaire de 1849

The Evangelical-Lutheran State Church was renamed The Evangelical-Lutheran People’s Church in the democratic constitution from 1849. Uniquely Denmark, however, never had a split in the triangle between state, church and people. During the religious revivals of the 19th Century, with N.F.S. Grundtvig as a leading figure, 1/4 of the Danes became conscious Christians, partly influenced by cultural revival and partly in line with Pietism of the 18th Century.

In 1903 parish congregational boards were introduced, as a first step of a slow process of democratization from below of the national church. Today the secular state is still in charge of legislation, administration, and court decisions of the church at the national level.
During the years it has been debated if the congregational boards should primarily be seen as administrative bodies, acting on behalf of the state and/or local society, or as a function of the ministry of all believers. Also the legitimacy of the boards has been questioned as only 10-20 percent of church members participate in the elections. The boards have, however, contributed very well as catalysts for good relationships between the local people and the parish churches.

Formally supervised by 12 bishops (incl. 1 in Greenland and 1 in the Faeroe Islands, which got status as an independent church in 2007) the church is divided into more than 2000 parishes with approximately 2000 pastors, who are formally state civil servants, required to have graduated as MTh (Master of Theology) from one of the state universities.