Around 200 people from Free Evangelical (FeG) congregations and many cultural backgrounds gathered at the Kronberg-Forum Ewersbach on 5 September for a “Conference of Cultures” organised by the Bund FeG and its mission agency, Allianz-Mission. Under the motto “Wake up! Rediscover missionary power!” the day mixed worship, Bible teaching and practical workshops on sharing faith across cultural boundaries. “When I look at the rows here, I see the kingdom of God,” said Andreas Scholz, the FeG’s officer for international congregational work, who led the programme with Rio Mangunwijaya, pastor and church planter of FeG Kairos Hannover.
The conference took place as Germany’s Free Evangelical churches ask how international congregations should belong to the life of the denomination rather than remain a separate sphere. The theologian and author Roland Werner built his main talk on Ephesians 5:14 — “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead” — and used the fingers of a hand to set out five marks of a missionary disciple: the gospel at the centre, witness with the whole of life, strengthening community and hospitality, diakonia and care for people in need, and a kingdom-of-God awareness. Five afternoon workshops explored the theme in practice, including how to build relationships with Muslim neighbours; one, led by Mehrdad Sajadi, was titled “Don’t persuade first — meet”.
The day closed with communion led by Richard Burmeister-Adu, pastor of the international FeG Köln-Lindenthal, as people from different backgrounds shared bread and cup and the Lord’s Prayer was prayed in six languages. Albert Giesbrecht, who leads Allianz-Mission’s international congregational work, lit a candle and urged participants to carry warmth into a cold world. Writing afterwards in the FeG magazine Christsein Heute, Artur Wiebe argued that the vision should not stop at a single event: there should not be just one “Conference of Cultures”, he wrote, but 504 — at least as many as there are local congregations in the Bund FeG.
(Originally published in German. Summary translated by CC / Connexion.)
Source: Allianz-Mission / Bund FeG — www.allianzmission.de/mehr-reich-gottes-wagen/
