"Church also exists elsewhere!" - A report by Frank Schütte/South Africa

Frank Schütte spent four weeks as a guest pastor in Germany. He gained experiences that inspired him to take a deeper look.

"Church also exists elsewhere!" This is the title of the exchange programme run by the Hanover Regional Church in cooperation with the ELM, in which I participated from August 29 to September 25 in 2023.

Church also exists elsewhere. Church exists - that's the first thing that came to mind. Church exists. Period. Whether in South Africa or in Germany, the church of Christ presists today into the twenty-first century. Yes, the church exists, it is there, it works and still achieves a lot. I was able to see and experience this when I was in Germany. The Ministries Department of the Church of Hanover (HkD), which I was given an insight into by my host, Mirko Peisert (Director of the HkD), is one of the places that bear witness to this. With over 200 employees, the HkD excels in various specialized areas with enthusiasm.

The HkD provides counselling, support, training, events and lectures, producing top-notch materials for church districts and congregations within the Hanover regional church. At the very beginning of my time in Hanover, I had the honour of attending the first meeting of the board of trustees with Mirko Peisert as the new director. The Board of Trustees, the governing body of the HkD, consists of talented individuals dedicated to the church´s continued existance and effectiveness.

During this meeting, I realised how complex and confusing such church institutions can become - a challenge the HkD management aims to address. At the same time, it became clear to me during my visit that the church in Germany is in a completely different league when it comes to finances and resources. Despite a declining membership and the church´s concerns about it´s impact on church tax income, the church still possesses the means to do much good.

This indicates that even if the church shrinks, as numbers decrease and beautiful old church buildings often remain empty, I learned that the church is still alive and active on many levels. That has given me courage. I hold on to that. The church still exists. It has not yet been forgotten. Yes, the church exists in South Africa, elsewhere globally and in Germany, where many things are vastly different. While it wasn't my first time in Germany, this visit emphasised the differences.

Everything works very well, at least in comparison to South Africa. The German railway may not be what it once was, but it still provides travel daily across the country, even though with delays at times. Additionally, Germany's postal service remains efficient, contributing significantly to the church's public relations work and fundraising through letters — a concept unimaginable in my home country, where the postal system has been compromised by corruption. Some participants in a fundraising seminar I attended found this hard to fathom.

Moreover, poverty in Germany is almost insignificant compared to the widespread poverty in South Africa. Although the governmental social support structures are under pressure, they are still very effective. Of course, I am aware that there are also problems in Germany, but they are different and on a different level, which is why the church "elsewhere" also deals with other things, such as climate change, business ethics and housing costs. Issues that are not unimportant here, but have a completely different significance and are therefore discussed much less in the church in South Africa.

That is why the church is often very different elsewhere and yet, as I have realised, in many respects it is also very similar. Why is that? In many conversations during my time in Germany, I realised how many similar topics concern us, for example our worries about the youth and the future, our fears, our joys and our hopes, and not only in the personal sphere, but also concerning the church.

On two different continents, 10,000 kilometres apart, we grapple with similar questions about the meaning of life, to put it simply, we are all looking for a community in which we feel accepted and loved, and many of us are aware that money and a career are not everything in life. With these common themes, the following question arises for me: What answer does the church provide people with on these topics? Is the Good News of Jesus Christ actually still relevant? Definitely! This is something I took away from the lay preachers course I attended in Hildesheim.

There I met a group of people for whom proclaiming the Good News is part of the core business of the church. Considering the acute shortage of pastors, people are being trained to preach so that the church can continue to fulfil this essential task. Conversations around the dinner table at St Michael's Monastery often centred on the following questions: What makes the church a church? What is the task of the church in Germany and elsewhere in the world? How and as what is the church actually perceived in Germany? Is the institution of the church still recognisable as the "body of Christ"? These are questions that we must ask ourselves in South Africa as well as in Germany. These are questions that are associated with major challenges, motivating us to keep the church moving forward as a force that inspires people, rather than merely an institution fighting for survival and to preserve its structures.

These are some of the experiences I had during my time in Germany. Experiences that have motivated and inspired me to think further. They are valuable experiences that have enriched me and will stay with me for a long time to come - experiences that I owe to the Regional Church of Hanover, the ELM and its staff, my dear hosts, Mirko and Daniel, and the many other people I was able to meet during this time. I hope that many more people will participate in this exchange program, "Church also exists elsewhere" , in the future, gaining enrichment and inspiration from it.