Wegweiser Crisis of meaning · Orientation & support Deutsch

🕊️ Faith, spirituality and worldview

Religious, spiritual and secular-humanist contact points as one possible, but by no means the only, answer to questions of meaning.

Pastoral care Humanist association Worldview community Meditation

In brief

For some people, engaging with faith, spirituality or a deliberately non-religious worldview is an important part of the search for meaning. The range of offers in Germany is varied: Christian parishes with pastoral care, growing interfaith services (e.g. Islamic, Jewish or Buddhist-influenced pastoral care, including in hospitals), meditation and Buddhist-inspired groups, and expressly secular services such as the life counselling and Lebenskunde (life skills education) of the Humanistischer Verband Deutschlands (HVD, Humanist Association of Germany) for people without a religious affiliation.

Step by step

  1. Clarify your own opennessConsider whether a religious, spiritual or expressly secular offer suits you better.
  2. Look for a local contact pointParishes, mosque communities, Jewish communities, Buddhist centres or the local HVD can usually be found via their websites.
  3. Get in touch without commitmentA first conversation is usually possible on an open, non-binding basis.

Deadlines

Watch out – common mistakes
  • Not every offer is neutral – some communities pursue a missionary agenda; the independence and aims of an offer should be critically checked in advance.
  • Spiritual or religious support does not replace medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for a diagnosed mental illness.
  • Services are very unevenly spread across regions – in rural areas the choice can be much smaller than in big cities.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals

Growing interfaith pastoral care

Alongside the traditionally large Christian hospital and clinic chaplaincy, there is a growing field of Islamic, Jewish and other pastoral care, including in hospitals and increasingly in the prison system. Scope and organisation, however, are developed to different degrees depending on the federal state and institution; a nationwide uniform structure like that of Protestant/Catholic pastoral care does not exist to the same extent.

Humanistischer Verband Deutschlands (HVD)

As a worldview-neutral, non-religious organisation, the HVD offers, among other things, life counselling, self-help groups and, in some federal states, the school subject "Humanistische Lebenskunde" (humanist life skills education). Its services are expressly aimed at people of any worldview or none.

Who is responsible
  • The respective local faith or worldview community
Further reading
TelefonSeelsorge and church pastoral careMonastery stay and retreat daysPhilosophical life counselling

Quick questions

Worum geht es bei „Faith, spirituality and worldview“?
Religious, spiritual and secular-humanist contact points as one possible, but by no means the only, answer to questions of meaning.
What should I do first?
  • Clarify your own openness: Consider whether a religious, spiritual or expressly secular offer suits you better.
  • Look for a local contact point: Parishes, mosque communities, Jewish communities, Buddhist centres or the local HVD can usually be found via their websites.
  • Get in touch without commitment: A first conversation is usually possible on an open, non-binding basis.
What do I need to watch out for?
  • Not every offer is neutral – some communities pursue a missionary agenda; the independence and aims of an offer should be critically checked in advance.
  • Spiritual or religious support does not replace medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for a diagnosed mental illness.
  • Services are very unevenly spread across regions – in rural areas the choice can be much smaller than in big cities.
Evidence
  • Humanistischer Verband Deutschlands (humanismus.de), retrieved September 2026
  • General overviews of church and interfaith pastoral care from the EKD and the Deutsche Bischofskonferenz
As of

As of September 2026 · Sources and method

A question about your situation that this page does not answer? Write to us or use the contact form – we will tell you which office is responsible and what to bring. Free of charge, without individual legal advice.