When repentance becomes possible: How these Christians learned to love one another

Christians do not always 'love one' another as the Bible commands, and hurt can linger on over many generations.

Now some senior church leaders will be travelling to London next month from New South Wales in Australia to describe how they have repented of their treatment of a monastic-style Christian community two decades ago.

And this repentance has led to an amazing transformation in the name of Christ. 

The church leaders realised they needed to repent and seek forgiveness for their treatment of a group of fellow Christians after they approached Inverell city council in New South Wales to seek a closer working relationship.

Instead of agreeing to this, the council called them to account.

The church leaders were told they had to put things right with the Bruderhof community before any further conversations could take place.

This was because, more than 20 years ago the Bruderhof community, a modern day monastic Christian community, applied for planning permission to establish a new centre in Inverell.

They found themselves aggressively opposed by local church leaders who had wrongly identified them as a cult. Bishop Randall Gauger, the leader of the community, says: 'The council took a lot of criticism for supporting us and their staff were very hurt.'

The Bruderhof community was started in Germany in the 1920s as a response to the carnage of the first world war. It operates as a modern-day monastic community holding all possessions in common and serving the poor. Once they had applied for planning consent the local population, led by church leaders, began a campaign against their request. Strong pressure was applied to the council with public meetings held and angry letters being sent. After some time and under significant criticism the council approved the plans and the Bruderhof community began its work.

Time moved on and church leaders changed, the Bruderhof were increasingly valued in the community for their support for people with disabilities and relationships were greatly improved.

It was therefore a huge shock for the church leaders to hear that the council still held significant concerns about the situation.

Rev Phil Wiedemann, the Presbyterian minister leading the church's delegation to the council, says: 'At our first meeting the Bruderhof issue was raised and they identified this as a major issue. The council were grieving at the way the churches had behaved.'

The church leaders on hearing the news approached the Bruderhof to understand more.

Gauger says: 'After a period of time we had ended up reconciling with those who opposed us and we had moved on. However, when a group of pastors had approached us they identified the way we were treated as the most important issue facing Inverell that need to be reconciled. We were totally surprised – however, we did know the council took a lot of criticism for supporting us and that members of staff had been hurt.

Wiedemann says: 'We approached the Bruderhof and asked them if we could repent of the past. They welcomed us with open arms and said they had already forgiven us but it was the spirit of Christ to engage in active repentance together.'

In May last year a large public meeting took place with members of the churches, the Bruderhof community and council officers.

Wiedemann says: 'We thought it needed to be done publicly because the sins were very public and virtually every church was involved.' A 12-point statement of repentance to the Bruderhof and the council was read out and prayers of repentance were made by the church leaders. Wiedemann said: 'Now there are genuine friendships developing which were not there 12 months ago. Everything is now possible in this community.'

This is one of many stories being told at Movement Day UK on the role of the churches in city wide transformation. Organiser Rev Roger Sutton says: 'We all long for the deep divisions in our society to be healed, but that can only start with all of us at a personal and local level. For the Church to have any integrity in society as a force for good it must live the life of Jesus and go to ever deeper levels of reconciliation. A united reconciled Church will be able to help a divided society – this is why Jesus prayer for us to be one. It is not enough to sweep relational issues under the carpet, Movement Day UK will be about calling the Church to honest loving reconciliation.'

Gauger says: 'The issue of forgiveness is central to the Christian faith. Jesus came to this earth so we could be forgiven. We are offered the chance to be reconciled to God, each other and even our enemies. Forgiveness can change the world.'

This story is being highlighted at Movement Day UK, where leaders from Inverell will be attending to talk further about the issues involved. Movement Day UK is a two-day event in central London October 6 and 7, 2017, at Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, that will focus on the future of towns and cities.

At the heart of discussions and debate will be the role the whole Church can play in their spiritual, cultural and social transformation.

Follow Movement Day on Twitter and Facebook @MovementDayUK. Movement Day is supported by a wide range of denominations, organisations and individuals including Gather, Churches Together in England, Hope Together, World Vision, Evangelical Alliance, The Methodist Church, LICC, Cinnamon Network, Christians in Politics, Media Net, Care for the Family and many more. Most leaders of Christian denominations will be attending alongside senior Christians in education, politics, health, arts, business, the media and other sectors.