Martin Luther Kirche BERLIN

Image: Two churches in partnership

Berlin October 2007

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from the Martin Luther Kirche website

Von Donnerstag, dem 25. Oktober 2007 bis Sonntag, dem 28. Oktober 2007 hatten wir Besuch von 9 Freundinnen und Freunden aus unserer Partnergemeinde St. Andrew in Enfield, Großbritannien.

Der Besuch verlief durchweg heiter und harmonisch, auch wenn einzelne Programmpunkte sich mit inhaltlich schwierigen Themen beschäftigten (Führung durch das multikulturelle Kreuzberg, Besuch der Blindenwerkstatt Otto Weidt, Besuch der Versöhnungskapelle in der Bernauer Straße). Alle waren sich einig, dass das eigentlich Wunderbare dieser Begegnungen das Gefühl ist, dass wir über Landes- und Religionsgrenzen hinweg solche Erlebnisse miteinander teilen können. Der eindrucksvolle Höhepunkt war der gemeinsam gestaltete deutsch-englische Gottesdienst am Sonntag, dem 28. Oktober.

Nine members of St Andrew's Church had a spectacular long week-end in Berlin with our partnership church.

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VISIT TO BERLIN – OCTOBER 2007

For a fourth time our friends at Martin-Luther-Kirche, Neukölln, invited members of St. Andrew’s to spend a weekend with them. Yet again, their kindness and generosity met us at every turn - literally when each of the nine of us was welcomed with a beautiful rose on arrival at the airport.

Because we enjoyed private hospitality we were able to get more of a feel for life in Germany, including climbing as many as 80 steps to a welcoming flat!

Sometimes all together and sometimes in small groups we had a wide-ranging programme. There was a guided tour of Neukölln’s neighbouring district of Kreuzberg with its history of a strong international youth culture. An enormous mural called for harmonious relationships. Some of us took a one-hour or three hour trip on the River Spree, passing (amongst other sights) the Palace of Republic, the Television Tower, Berlin Cathedral, the German Parliament building and the huge new Berlin railway station (Europe’s largest central station). One of the party squeezed in a visit to the large Zoo.

Surely the most poignant visit was to one of the Jewish Quarters. We visited the former Brush Factory set up by Otto Weidt (almost blind himself) to give employment and as much safety as possible to those with impaired eyesight but where all of them were at risk of their lives if discovered. Some of them were deported from there or elsewhere. Reading of the courageous lives of those people made me feel I had not even lived.

The Berlin Wall Documentation Center was extremely interesting within its sadness. It included a video showing the extent and some of the effects of the Wall, the bewilderment and subsequent distress of people suddenly separated from each other. A powerful video for us included a map of Greater London indicating where the Wall would have been if erected here. It would have stretched from Barnet to Croydon, Enfield being on the East side.

Some of us visited the site of the Evangelical Church of Reconciliation (1894) which suffered heavy bomb damage in 1943.
Only a third of their congregation survived the war. The church building was renovated and re-consecrated in 1950, but from 1961`the Wall left the church completely inaccessible for twenty years – in no man’s land – the congregation being separated East from West. For their own convenience, the GDR completely demolished the church in 1985. In 2000 the Chapel of Reconciliation was erected out of wood and of clay mixed with rubble from the old building. It signifies remembrance and gratitude and hope for its use as a place of silence, worship and reconciliation. For us it was a moving moment when we sang there “The Church’s one foundation”.

There were very jolly times in between the more serious spells, especially a party evening at the home of Heidelinde and Detlev and at various shared meals, even visiting others for breakfast!

The climax of our visit is always the shared service of Holy Communion on the Sunday morning. This was no exception, with both English and German being used throughout. (The entry and exit were to the sound of bagpipes from a visiting musician to the church). As the Vicar and Frances were unable to be with us this time, a letter of greeting from them and the St, Andrew’s congregation was read and a gift from our own Sunday Club was presented to the children of their church. Bread and Wine were received in a circle around the Communion Table, in which position afterwards we committed ourselves to each other as we held hands. We particularly gave thanks for the fact that, over the years, our relationships have deepened so that now real friendships have built up between the two Churches and between their individual members.

We were blessed with dry weather throughout and on the last afternoon the sun was added, making a glorious experience for me of a walk in Treptow Park. The Autumn colours were probably the brightest I have ever seen – apparently more brilliant than those of the Fall in Canada this year!

On the concourse of the airport for return we sang “The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended..” One passer-by said later that the hymn had struck her just as she was feeling badly towards someone. It was hard to say ‘goodbye’ but we look forward to welcoming our Neukölln friends to Enfield again next year.