Outdated tradition or time to recharge your batteries

Christians from around the world discussed the importance of Sunday services and alternative formats.

Christians attend church on Sunday mornings. Really? The reality is different, at least in Germany. Is the Sunday morning church service still in keeping with the times, or are other formats needed? The speakers from the Ev.-luth Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM), Kurt Herrera and Dr Joe Lüdemann, put this question up for debate at an international Zoom event. The event kicked off with two opposing statements, one from South Africa and one from Germany.

"For me, the Sunday service is very relevant," emphasised Themba Makhoba from Durban in South Africa. The young woman also explains why she thinks it is important that everyone comes together once a week for this service and that there are no different formats for different target groups. "It's about the challenges of life. If we all listen to the same sermon, we can talk about it afterwards. That's what we do as a family at the lunch table," she says. This sets the church service apart from the programmes offered during the week, where there are separate church activities for women, men and children. For Themba Makhoba, the relaxed socialising of the congregation is also very important, whether chatting or at Sunday lunch, which occasionally follows the service.

Niels von Türk, who works at the ELM as a consultant for the North-South volunteer programme, is critical of the Sunday service as it is practised in many German congregations: on Sundays, most people feel the need to sleep in, they usually only see the backs of their "brothers and sisters" during the service and the music probably doesn't suit the taste of most people in Germany. Niels von Türk describes his impressions of the "love of God" preached in the often seemingly emotionless rituals. However, the man from Hermannsburg also remembers church service formats outside of the Sunday morning tradition, where he was able to recharge his batteries, socialise with people and listen to appealing music.

During the ensuing dialogue between the participants, first in smaller groups and then in plenary, it became clear that people in the global church generally attach much greater importance to Sunday services and benefit from this tradition than Christians in Germany. "We try not to miss any services as long as we are healthy. And we mix what the young want with what the old want," explained a pastor from South Africa.

 

However, the participants from three continents also agreed that offers that invite people to linger and socialise after the service are always an enrichment.