As always, much has happened since I last wrote. We had a very pleasant experience celebrating Christmas in Germany. We also got a taste of German New Year’s Eve, which involves at least as many fireworks as a 4th of July celebration. We got to enjoy these with some of the college students in our congregation, as we watched from the church tower. January has been back to something of a routine, though we certainly haven’t gotten into a rut. Also, in our free time, Krista and I have become serious opera goers, having now seen 3 of the 4 operas in Wagner’s Ring Cycle. Having seen 11 hours of this 16 hour work, I have to say that it is impressive but about twice as long as it needs to be. So, at any rate, here are a couple of the more interesting items, as of late:
English Class
In planning this vicarage, an important aspect was teaching English as a diaconal service project. Unfortunately, this was delayed by my own language training, the Practical Theological Seminar, and then the Christmas rush. As the new year began, though, we were ready to begin. We encouraged the members of our congregation to participate, and I canvassed the neighborhood with invitations for free English lessons. Then, we waited eagerly to see who would arrive for our first meeting. Pastor Rehr was feeling very realistic, and so he started by only setting up one table for the students. A few people trickled in, and before long we had filled the first table and set up a second. Then, a whole rush of people came at once, and we set up a third and collected extra chairs. By the time everyone had arrived, we had over thirty interested people, a third of whom had come from outside the congregation. It was a relief to see that our English course would be a success.
So, we divided the group in two. Krista teaches the complete beginners, and I have the intermediate learners. Krista and the beginners got off to a good start, learning greetings and other basics. An hour and a half is pretty intense for people who know nothing about English, but they seem to be willing to learn. My group is interesting because we have many different levels of skill and many different age groups (ranging from teenagers to retirees). We started with a mixture of grammatical review and conversation, and they have given me good feedback so far. I’m also pleased that the new people are getting along well with the members of our congregation, who have been very welcoming. Hopefully, this positive contact with the church will develop into something more.
Retreat with the Kirchenvorstand
I just returned from a weekend retreat with the Kirchenvorstand, which is something like the church council. The seven of us went to the German-Polish border, near Görlitz, to a small monastery called St. Marienthal. We spent our time studying, discussing, and also having a good time. We also took up the hobby of “Nun-Spotting,” though not too successfully. Even though we poked our heads in a lot of places, we did not spot a single nun. Our subject of study was Luther’s Smalcald Articles, which we read and analyzed in their entirety. I was responsible for explaining the historical background to this document, which went pretty well, in spite of my miserable grammar. We thought it was very ironic reading the article that equates the Papacy with the Antichrist, while sitting in a Catholic cloister in a room bearing a prominent picture of Pope John Paul II. Other than that, we toured the monastery, went on a hike, ate good food, and had lots of time for talking. It was pretty fun, even though it is always nice to come back home.
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