18 Churches Aim to Share One Building in Hamburg on EthicsDaily.com
August 28, 2009
By: Anli Serfontein Posted: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 6:05 am Section: Religion News Service
TRIER, Germany (RNS/ENI) Eighteen Christian denominations in Hamburg have launched an effort to share a single church building in a new seaside “Harbor City” residential development.
“It’s intended to serve the inhabitants of the Harbor City development, as well as tourists and people who work here, offering a place of silence and giving them the possibility to get in touch with God,” the Rev. Antje Heider-Rottwilm told the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper.
The 18 churches in “The Bridge” project decided to pool their resources in one ecumenical center. Participants include Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist, Old Catholic, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Reformed, and Roman Catholic churches.
www.ethicsdaily.com to READ MORE
From Germany, we get a lesson in stewardship, kingdom-centered thinking, and unity in Christ's Body.
We can do it! (In fact, our church does on a lesser scale).
If we would commit to not spending all of our resources on duplication in buildings and expenses for infrastructure, we can have more for mission and service to others.
There is no requirement that in working together in areas of agreement that any congregation must surrender its uniqueness and character. This model can be structured to preserve the individual gifts of specific congregations and denominations to the larger community of faith.
In the meantime, Harbor City has provided us a model worth studying.