3 - 2001

German churches - 10 years united

Giving up, letting go

No way to avoid saying goodbye to the "Mother Church” model

by Christoph Demke

The Protestant regional churches in East Germany are looking for more friendly ways of working together. Yet, for the former Bishop of the provincial Church of Saxony, Christoph Demke, the reforms have not gone far enough.

Some new things are afoot among the Protestant regional churches in East Germany. The Church in Thuringia is co-operating with the provincial Church of Saxony, the Church of Pomerania with the North Elbian Church and the Church of Mecklenburg, and the Church of Silesia with those of Anhalt and Berlin-Brandenburg. – In view of the low membership numbers in these churches, the proportion of older to younger members that portends disaster, and their completely inadequate incomes, this is certainly necessary and can bring some relief. Merging small congregations together can also simplify the work.

Such amalgamations, surely, imply a departure from thinking and structures, which belong to the "Mother Church” model, and which still characterise the self-understanding of church leaders. This leave-taking is a difficult and painful process. For those of us who are church staff members, it means changes in our job descriptions, which we experience at first as a loss of our proper roles.

So we have to let go of a lot of things we used to do. This begins with the direction and administration of the regional churches, especially the guidance of personnel. As anyone involved in this learns, to his or her sorrow, all that the church central offices can now manage amounts to powerless incompetence. Newly arrived staff members are more or less helpless in their hands, so that any long-term planning for one’s life is basically out of the question. And congregations must bear the consequences of wrong decisions for which they are usually not responsible. Those in authority find their hands tied almost completely by bureaucratic work relationships. Only a radical break with all this can bring back the joy of working for the Church, and respect for its leadership.

Personnel placements should be arranged, as a matter of principle, through contracts made by local congregations. Central offices of regional churches should limit themselves to being advocates for the teaching of the church, certifying persons as qualified for placement. Beyond that, they should have a say only when financial support is requested from the regional church.

This assumes, of course, that congregations have full responsibility for their own financial resources, or at least much more leeway than at present. Distribution of allowances by Mother Church cannot be continued as at present.

The regional church central offices should confine themselves to what is really beyond the powers of the local churches. Thus the central office assumes, in the end, the classical responsibilities of the bishop’s office. It is responsible for doctrine, that there is an inner unity in the content of the faith, and in service to this can make some general rules. And it takes care of relations with other churches, with ecumenical bodies, with the government and with the media extending beyond the region.

Certainly it is not only for financial reasons that we need to give up the "Mother Church” model. It would be much more appropriate to the way many people feel about life, especially younger ones. Not all arrive at this attitude at the same time, of course – there are differences not only between city and country, but also between regions. Still, the trend towards what is being called civil society is unmistakable.

Letting go of the "Mother Church” model is not only an appropriate development within the civil society. Even more, it can redeem, at last, the expectations of theological insight and the self-understanding of the churches of the Reformation.

In many parts of East Germany today, parishes are becoming so large that parish ministry in its previously known form is stretched to absurd dimensions. After only a year or two of service, many younger pastors feel burned out. Congregations complain about the hectic pace of their pastor’s work, and for a funeral it is easier to find a secular orator than a pastor.

Letting go of "Mother Church” means, finally, that the priesthood of all believers is not something merely to be taught, but to be allowed in practical terms, taking a risk on the gifts of the Spirit and the freedom of the Lord. The priesthood of all believers means first of all the amazing right, which Christians have, as members of God’s household, to speak with God about what is going on, for him and for us, and thus to intercede with God for one another and for others (Romans 8.15 and Galatians 6.2). Is the third article of the creed, the one about the Holy Spirit and the Church, just an appendix that we can neglect, or is it anchored in the second article, the one about Jesus Christ? Then we are to see, use, design and treat our numerous church buildings as places where we call upon God, in Karl Barth’s sense, which is the true way to worship.

It is important that, in all these places, intercession takes place, both locally and globally oriented. We Protestants are not entitled to take a short cut, in seeing ourselves as a church of the Word, if that means that worship is only about proclaiming the Word. The church is much more – it is also a place in which to call upon God. In practice that means that not all church buildings have to be auditoriums, Sunday for Sunday, in which sermons are preached. But they must always be used as places where the call goes up to God.

Where this is Christian practice, people come forward and accept spiritual responsibility. This allows the full-time church staff to concentrate each Sunday on two or three villages at a time, sharing in the life of the people there, knowing that in the other places the voice of prayer is never silent. When Christians, ordained or not, share their lives with one another, they are holding onto an element of "Mother Church”, but in a new way.

The church then is not just an enterprise, which provides professional services, with a rainbow of offerings for different needs. Instead, it is – in many forms and contexts – the communion of saints, those who gather around the Lord’s table and share their lives. Some of this must also be provided by church personnel, visibly on the local scene. Celebrating the Lord’s Supper and visiting in homes are functionally linked together.

When we take the risk on the gifts of the Spirit, in our structures, we are doing justice to the changed living conditions of many of our contemporaries, and we can deal with the financial constraints better. Jesus, after teaching the people, challenged Peter to take his boat out to the middle of the lake, where the water is deep, and cast his nets. The disciples knew his presence in the midst of storm and high waves. Trusting in him and the miracles of his Spirit, the leadership of the church, and the encouragement it gives, must have the tenor: Cast off!

This article appeared in the Protestant monthly journal Zeitzeichen (Signs of the Times), No. 4/2001. We present it here in abridged form.