Desert times and promises

During a panel discussion, four participants provided insights into the situation of their church and what keeps them in this church despite all the challenges.

In the run-up to the PCC, four people who hold leading positions in their church reflected on their dream of church, the reality and why, despite everything, they remain faithful to their church and want to continue working with and on it. Dr Christian Samraj, Bishop of TELC (India), Kgosi Nkagiseng Rammekwa, youth leader in the ELCSA (South Africa), Siegrid Hoeft (President of the women's organisation OASE / Vale do Itajaí Synod of the IECLB, Brazil) and Marianne Gorka, Regional Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover, introduced the substantive work of the partner church consultation with their statements today.

Four questions took centre stage. The first was: What is your dream of being a church? For Marianne Gorka, this question triggered memories of her childhood. A feeling of warmth, security, community and unity pervades these memories of church services in which her whole family participated - mostly musically. And the feeling that "church is for everyone" is also part of her dream.

Christian Samraj dreams of a church as the "body of Christ" that reflects the love of God. Kgosi Nkagiseng Rammekwa formulates a clear vision in response to the opening question: "My vision is for the church to be an institution that consistently welcomes the body of unity in all its diversity, an institution that values and honours the unique contribution of each member.

I want a church that rejects patriarchy and sexism in all its forms and eradicates racism from society as a whole. An organisation that is gender-sensitive, where there is room for sexual diversity and that consistently combats spiritual abuse and religious trauma."

The second question was dedicated to the current situation in the respective churches: "How does the reality of the church match your dream?" The answers revealed that, regardless of whether a church is growing (like the South African church) or shrinking (like the German church), no one had unreserved praise for "their" institution. For example, corruption in South African churches and sexualised violence in German churches were mentioned. In contrast, the church in India has to contend primarily with political repression from outside; for Brazil, the representative there described the problem of domestic violence with which many women are confronted. "Gender-based violence is a violation of human rights, and the church should be part of the solution, not the problem," said Siegrid Hoeft.

"Why are you still a member of the church?" was question number three. "It is a call from the Lord, and God has given me a mandate to fulfil," replied Dr Christian Samraj. "Growing is first and foremost a spiritual category for us. Growing in faith and coming of age is the goal," emphasises Marianne Gorka in view of the countless people leaving Christian churches in Germany. She reminds us that Jesus sent his disciples from house to house. "Church is always a gathering on the way," she is convinced. Kgosi Nkagiseng Rammekwa lists most of the arguments in favour of remaining in the church: "Faith, conviction, community, tradition, morals, ethics and spiritual development". He also recalls what the Evangelical Lutheran Church is all about: "Luther emphasised that the true church is not a physical institution, but a community of believers united in faith. He argued that the church is made up of those who truly believe in Christ and seek to follow his teachings." Luther also believed that "the Bible is the only authority for Christian faith and practice, not church traditions or ecclesiastical authority."

With question number four, the four protagonists of the panel discussion returned to the first point: Their dream or vision of church. "If a magician were to grant you three wishes regarding the church, what would they be?" However, Christians would not be Christians if they were not positively challenged to accept difficulties and seek ways out of the crisis. "Biblically, every desert time leads to a new promise," said Marianne Gorka at this point, before the other participants were also given the opportunity to talk about "their desert times" and "promises".