Congregation as a shelter - Theme in 2007

 

The congregation decides to work with a theme for a longer period of time.
An annual theme in all its diversity can be handled in various ways. On many occasions we've regularly been confronted in many ways with "the Shelter". Hence, we postulate our annual theme as: "Congregation as a shelter" and off we go.

During the preparations of our annual congregation weekend course, we learn about the literature of the Dutch theologian and sociologist Jan Hendriks. We experience our choice of an annual theme to be more than just a theoretical argumentation, it is a concept for congregation renewal. In our current situation, we feel the topic appealing. Hendriks’ concept of an hospitable community was born in 2000 in the Netherlands. Meanwhile it grew into a vivid international movement across all kinds of Christian denominations. It stands for a feasible vision, it's not another task, but it's a lifestyle. Picture your congregation as a place along people's path. Being a modern congregation means to ask for the people's needs.  We learn to discard our own problems and to forget what worries us for the future. With the wording of Jan Hendriks: „Replace your worried self-reflected question „How shall we survive?“ by „What can we, as a small and ongoing shrinking community mean for the people around us?“ The concept of an hospitable congregation cares about "the business", meaning about the nature and the mission of any congregation as much as for "the people".
It interconnects tradition and openness and this approach fits to our intentions. 

A logo that will accompany us on our journey is created: an open door with the view on the outside.

This year we invite to various events in the context of our annual theme:

·  At the annual meeting of our congregation in Spring 2007, we start the meeting with a devotion, dedicated to our annual theme.

· Jan Hendrik's concept is introduced to the attendees of our congregation weekend. It becomes a weekend that triggers us as congregation to discuss things. And it is this weekend, on which the idea is born to dare to open to the outside world.

·  From May till September we offer a street café that soon becomes a highly appreciated meeting place for all ages and where roles of being guest or host become fluid. The café is to be continued during the summer.

·  We organize a banquet, to which mostly people of our own congregation show up. And of course, one has to feel "at home" before one opens up to other people.  Gabriele Wedekind, pastor from Hamm-Pelkum, lectures about the basics of Jan Hendrik's concept of congregation renewal in her own congregation and about how the concept was put into practice. It is valuable to learn about other people's experiences and to get an answer on the question: "Do we, as an "aim-directed" congregation have a better chance to mitigate the tendency of getting smaller as any other "common-or-garden congregation" ?" This question can be answered positively, then at an hospitable congregation, guest and host are on eye-level. The congregation needs to create time and space for its guests. There  is nothing we can enforce, but we can put our trust in the Spirit of God. And so, an important result can be seen also in the fact that being hospitable is not an additional competence but a basic attitude.

 

  In many activities our opening already becomes visible:

· Annually, we organize a bible camp for children and teens. During this event, many children but also staff experience the shelter of our congregation.

·  On our street festival, meanwhile come off as an institution in our village life, we invite for an ecumenical service focusing on "Congregation as a shelter".

 

·  On a regular base, contributions on our annual theme are published:

  Where have I been guest?

  Where could I experience a congregation as a shelter?

  How do I imagine an hospitable congregation?

·  Our seniors invite:

  The Weierhof Shelter, Experiences from the post WWII era; Looking for a new home.
·  A series of sermons highlighting the various aspects of the Shelter theme:

•   Offering shelter to angels and other surprises

•   Changing Roles: Guest and Host

•   Shelter sharing

•   Any shelter needs its own team

•   Coming home - feeling at home with myself

•   Being a guest on earth

·  In November, we offer the opportunity to evaluate the outcome of our journey. In the course of a discussion, we summarize, that the theme is indeed affecting our congregation, as it fits to the situation and our wish for a change. We decide to continue our efforts in the context of this concept for congregational renewal.

 

An important realization is embedded in our experience that the road is the aim and hence any contribution, how small it be, stands for an additional contribution to God's Kingdom.
 

We decide to improve our public relations. This implies to discover and support the growth of new talent, though "one should not necessarily seek the ability to offer everything possible"

The vacancy of our ministry is guided by the motto:
„we want to be an open and inviting congregation for all interested people".
This is a basic attitude that supports us during the application process.
Together we want:
being a shelter, sharing good and bad times, and to seek for a common road to peace.
This is our vision for the future, from which we derive our mission. 

 

Sigrid Neff