3. Practical ideas for the church and congregations

Worshipping in other languages, holding festive church events with people of different origins, standing by and supporting refugees… Creating a culture of welcome is possible…

When in autumn 2015 almost 900,000 refugees came to Germany, the churches showed what consequences follow from witness to their faith. Presbyteries, synods and leading clergy spoke out in favor of an open society; countless volunteers invested time, energy and imagination in providing a welcome; parishes made premises available. And to this day they organize language courses and mentoring; they give backing to volunteers and train them in legal matters, integration issues and multilingual services. The commitment of churches for refugees does not remain without repercussions: the experiences of Christians and expectations of the church have also changed the life of the churches themselves.

With the aid of the statements made in 1.4. about the nature of the church, we will now give examples of projects and experiences from the area of the Evangelical Church of Westphalia to encourage discussion and further reflection.

3.1 Being church together

In the street we meet people from different nations. Kindergartens and schools are international nowadays, as are many (church) choirs. How do we want to respond to this international presence: are they guests or members of God’s house?…

The bonds with other congregations and worldwide Christianity is fundamental for the understanding of congregation and churches. This is shown by the very opening of New Testament letters: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”. Paul writes to “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 1:2.3). Local congregations are always part of a greater whole. Communion with Christ embraces, puts in perspective and transcends natural, social and national forms of community, says a document by the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe, of which the Evangelical Church in Westphalia is one of the founding members. This is the vision of the one, tangible and world-embracing church, which calls its common unity in Christ the “body of Christ”. If we follow this vision, it becomes clear that God presents me with something through the alterity of the other. God it is who challenges and enriches us through that which is strange. God meets us in the stranger: you welcomed me.

Despite all the difficulties, congregations, groups and individuals time and again in our church experience human, substantive, theological and spiritual enrichment when they engage with strangers and new situations. The following examples invite us to ask for suitable answers in our own congregation or work area.

3.2 Celebrating faith together

Worship as the centre of church life: different traditions and styles of piety merge. Elements from various liturgies and prayers come together…

People gather in worship to be near to God, to praise God and spread out their concerns and fears in prayer. They seek calm and comfort, fellowship with one another and with God and a sermon that is close to their lives. For many, worship is a place of reassurance where they feel at home and a sense of community.

A service of worship keeps alive a long tradition. Many congregations here see the centre of community life. It is all the better when people bring in their experience with other worship traditions and other forms of spirituality. If the service is held “in the responsibility and with the participation of the whole congregation” this can lead to new diversity of sounds and rhythms, to listening to God’s word in other languages and to intensive common prayer.

The act of worship itself has a migration background. Elements from liturgies and prayers from Israel, Syria, Byzantium, Rome and North Africa were melded into what people in Westphalia today feel to be their worship home. “Our” Protestant service reflects the worldwide oikoumene from two millennia.

You can also feel that in the music. Protestant church music was exported worldwide through mission, but also in brass bands. Churches adopted them and made them part of their own tradition. But it also went the other way: gospel music and songs from the ecumenical movement have entered our German services and hymn books. Music overcomes cultural and language barriers and choirs are a good way of getting into contact with a congregation. The spirituality and preaching style of Christians of other languages and origins may be strange to Germans but singing and music can help them experience how praising God unites people.

What is important in all this is the basic attitude of the congregation. Is the service the “best room”, displaying the finest possessions of the parish, or is it the warm kitchen in which all God’s children can come home, still their hunger and thirst and enjoy fellowship?

3.3 Passing on and witnessing to faith

Bible sharing, family love, cheerful hope, prayers and hospitality are part of Christian faith. Yet the right to freely practise one’s religion does not apply everywhere. That is why it is a Christian duty to stand up for people who are persecuted for their religion…

According to the Apostle Paul, the whole life of a Christian is worship. Faith is shown in love as to brothers and sisters, in cheerful hope, constant prayer, harmony and hospitality to strangers. Yet worship also involves speaking up against prejudiced and hateful talk and actions in everyday life. In statements and discussion forums we read disparaging remarks about migrants and anyone who works with them. Christians are oppressed and persecuted in many countries in the world. Many religions and beliefs are threatened if they stand up for justice. Our church is committed to counteracting all that questions the human dignity of those who are ‘different’. That also includes standing up for the right to freely practice religion, here and all over the world.

Church educational work also testifies to the gospel. Protestant education is a holistic and life-long process. It seeks to promote discernment and enable action oriented to the Christian view of humankind. Above all, however, it is about getting to know biblical words and images that help to interpret and shape life. The parables and examples with which Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God are such life-enhancing stories. If the story about people is heard and enters the light of the gospel, it opens up horizons. Wherever newcomers can tell their stories, things and experiences fall into order. Our own and other stories begin to speak. That way personal encounter becomes a key to understanding the other person. In protected spaces some can even begin to tell of terrible experiences.

Such verses reflect the reality that refugees experience. Puzzling texts gain an individual character. We sit opposite people who change our idea of Christian life. Anyone to whom an Iranian reports how he was attending a Christian meeting underground and could only save himself from the police by jumping out the window will sense something of the cost of discipleship. Anyone to whom a woman tells the story of how her husband wants to throw acid at her as she is interested in Christianity will start to understand the meaning of costly grace.

Much of what persecuted Christians report is disturbing. And it arouses respect for their courage and creates closeness between brothers and sisters in faith. Refugees do not stand before us like saints on a pillar; they find a way into our hearts when they tell of their experiences with Christ, their fears but also their joy, their liberation by the gospel. They proclaim a heartening message to us – who had set out to ‘teach’ these up-and-coming baptismal candidates about Christianity.

Cultural and religious diversity is rare in the familiar groups and clubs in the congregations. However, interreligious encounter mostly starts in kindergarten and in the classroom. Through the people who meet there, the inevitable question is how that can work. Approaching these relations with openness and a readiness for reflection demands a lot of the educators and teachers, parents and children. We cannot just demand a readiness for life-long learning but we can create conditions conducive to fostering it.

“Who am I compared to the stranger?”

In youth work, in adult education and in all other areas of church action we attempt to promote intercultural learnin. The following example shows what intercultural learning can be like at school.

3.4 Shouldering responsibility

Cities and employers like to present themselves as intercultural. Church and diakonia can do that too. International staff – even if they do not belong to a church – are often very valuable for intercultural dialogue or for work in the social sphere…

Jesus presents someone of another faith as an example of love of the neighbor. The Good Samaritan himself does not ask about ethnic background or religion; he feels pity and helps the person in need. Because he shows mercy he becomes his neighbor. The Bible talks of mercy when God ‘sees’ the poverty, hardship, guilt and misery (Gen 16:13), ‘hears’ the lament and cries of the people (Judg 2:6.18), ‘gathers’ the scattered (Is 54:7), ‘cares for’ people (Ps 8:4) and saves the oppressed from their dire straits, helping and forgiving them (Mi 7:18; Ps 103:8; cf. Ex 34:6f). Mercy and justice point to one another; only a merciful judge is a good one (Ex 23:6). Mercy brings justice to the oppressed (Ex 22:20).

European and global crises such as the financial crisis in 2008 ff, the Greek crisis in 2015 and the refugee crisis since 2015 have again dramatically challenged the relationship between personal motivation for assistance, the integrative power of civil society, effective policy-making and a general respect for laws and agreements. There are acute tensions between an open ‘welcoming culture’, militantly refusing to give support even to the point of violent attacks, and the necessity to abide by international and national law. Mercy as the readiness and ability to create justice for the dispossessed is called for again.

Challenges to church welfare organizations

Anyone working with people with a diverse cultural and religious background wants to be ‘close’ to the people. We need staff who are well trained in intercultural sensitivity or have a migration background themselves and various cultural and linguistic skills. In many areas the shortage of staff is a renewed incentive to think quickly about who is to work in church institutions in future.

The population is becoming culturally more diverse, particularly in the big Westphalian cities. Around a third of all people in Dortmund have a family connection with migration. This diversity enriches the city and opens up new opportunities.

The share of the Muslim population is constantly growing. People with a Christian background – even as staff in the Protestant organization known as Diakonie Deutschland – are more frequently members of the Catholic Church than they are Protestant. This applies both to volunteers and to staff. Diversity in the staff of diaconal organizations is therefore a necessity and an opportunity at the same time. How Diakonie as a Protestant employer can handle this will be interesting to see. It is bound to the loyalty regulations of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) in order to guarantee the Protestant character of its actions. These regulations presuppose binding and transparent standards for the selection and hiring of staff. The primary focus is on hiring people who are members of an EKD member church. It is also possible to employ staff from a member church of the Council of Christian Churches in Germany (ACK). Under special circumstances it is also possible to employ staff who belong to no Christian church. It is not possible at all to employ applicants who have resigned from church membership.

This distinction is helpful. It can lead to the intercultural opening of diaconal ministries. Including migrants in the team leads to sociocultural differences that may contribute new ideas. Diakonie would also distort its mandate and damage itself if it on principle excluded individuals willing to support its services. There is an increasing shortage of trained professionals who are also Protestants. If it were necessary to categorically observe the principle of ‘Protestant applicants’ the result would be that some diaconal agencies at the local level would have to close.

Intercultural openness is also necessary with respect to the persons to whom our diaconal mandate applies. If, for example, you work in a centre for children with disabilities, you have to know the experiences and values of, for example, Turkish parents in their cultural context. Intercultural skills (culture-sensitive care) are essential in the caring professions. In neighborhood work you have to feel that diversity is enriching and be ready and able to keep intercultural dialogue going.

This applies, in particular, to their work at the side of people who have no positive life perspective, no chance of integration. Anxiety and violence are increasing with the people in society who have no chances – this is also something that the diaconal services note. That is a problem both in assistance for the homeless and in work with migrants. The staff receive special de-escalation training and are trained in appropriate safety measures in order to be able to handle aggression against staff of the Housing for Homeless department, or with drug-related crime and personal attacks on themselves. In the street, on foot, there are some scary encounters, in particular for women staff of the diaconal services. Frustration due to sexual harassment and fear of attacks are among the reasons why enthusiastic young female staff give notice to leave Diakonie.

4. Chapter: Consequences for church und society