An enlightening discussion about blessings

A global exchange has become a fundamental part of church services and other occasions.

Should (everyday) objects be blessed? And who is actually authorised to bless someone or something? Only an ordained person? Or anyone who feels called to do so? Church members from Germany and South Africa discussed these and other questions on 23 June 2026 as part of a series of events launched in 2024 by the Ev.-luth. Mission in Lower Saxony. The series addresses questions arising from everyday church life and facilitates the exchange of perspectives between representatives from the Global South and North. ‘Please bless my new car’ was the title of this Zoom event.

A blessing is part of every church service, and blessings are also sought on other occasions, as confirmed by both Pastor Nthuthuko Nkosi from Durban (South Africa) and Pastor Ulrich Noetzel from the Peter-Paul Congregation in Hermannsburg (Germany), who each introduced the topic with brief statements.

For Nkosi, blessing cattle, fields, seeds, crops, as well as cars and houses, is part of everyday life. For him, these are occasions where he gets to meet people and – almost as an afterthought – can sometimes even perform a baptism afterwards. For the South African pastor, blessing objects has nothing to do with materialism. “We also bless bread and wine during the service,” he remarks. To bless something simply means to make it clear that it does not belong to the owner merely in a material sense, but that God’s Spirit dwells within it.

Many German pastors, including Ulrich Noetzel, are more cautious about blessing objects. His congregation, for example, received a request to bless fire engines but did not do so. Of course, it is a wonderful opportunity, at the handover of such a vehicle, to speak to the firefighters, to pray that they return safely from their call-outs and that they may be able to help others. And, naturally, a blessing is also given. But the vehicles themselves tend to take a back seat in this context.

Nevertheless, even in the German Church, blessings are given to inanimate objects. One example of this is the blessing brought by the carollers when they write the letters C + M + B on front doors. These stand for ‘Christus mansionem benedicat’, which means ‘May Christ bless this house’.

In the subsequent discussion with the participants, it then emerged that practices regarding blessings are not uniform even within the regional churches. For instance, a woman from South Africa reported that in her congregation – unlike in Pastor Nkosi’s example – no animals are blessed. One question that sparked lively discussion among the participants was who is actually permitted to bestow a blessing. According to the Protestant understanding of the ‘priesthood of all believers’, in principle anyone can bestow a blessing. However, this should only take place with the congregation’s consent. During a church service, it is usually the case that the person holding the ‘highest’ office pronounces the blessing, which reflects its significance.

“It was an hour of learning,” summarised ELM Secretary Dr Joe Lüdemann, who launched the series together with his colleague Kurt Herrera. Feedback from South Africa summed up what was probably on most participants’ minds: “Thank you for this very enlightening meeting.”