This is how Rev Mathias Thieme's working environment looks statistically. Since early 2007, he has been in charge of the church planting project site in Bergen-Rotensee, organised by the Stralsund church district in an effort to bring the church into contact with people in their daily lives. One out of ten Rotensee inhabitants has a church affiliation and of these, only a small number seek any contact with the church.
"For me, the greatest challenge is to reach people who are separated from the church or in whose daily lives the church plays no role," Thieme explained to a group of 90 church representatives visiting Ruegen mid-September, in the context of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) European Church Leadership Consultation, held in
Greifswald, Germany.
New Approach
Making people interested in religious topics and establishing long-term contacts with the population can be a difficult task, remarked Thieme.
"It has become clear to me that, in the case of Rotensee, we must rethink our preaching style. Particularly in a context in which people are hardly interested in academic lectures, the 'church of the Word' must take a new approach. In order to transmit Christian values, it must address people without using big words," he explained.
There is still no church edifice, but for 19 months there has been a local church interlocutor.
"Church is where one encounters people and comes into their lives. The physical place is not the determinant. What matters, is that I have time for people and that they know I am available," asserted Thieme. Consequently, he spends most of his time on the road, meeting people. "I visit them at home. Sometimes we meet in the park or at a neighborhood centre," he said, describing a typical working day. When people
gradually begin to want to dialogue with him, he realizes that his efforts are beginning to pay off.
