As I write this, I am sitting in the Berlin airport waiting for my gate to be posted for my flight home after four wonderful days with the missionary arm of the church in Berlin and vicinity, the Berliner Missionswerk. We just spent time in prayer, study and discussion about how to deal with right wing populism and extremism in the world today, and Jes Kast and I were able to bring some wisdom from the Keystone Conference on navigating churches where not everyone is on the same page, theologically. Though it was intense, and I am tired, I return home with friendships and relationships renewed, new ones established and deepened, some great new insights, and with a good basis for taking this topic further in a month with our friends and colleagues at our colloquy.
The relationships we have with the German church are our most active. We meet as equals and colleagues across the miles, for prayer together and study. We discover that our churches, especially our small and rural churches, are surprisingly similar, both in demographics and in the issues presented within them. We find that our liturgies function well a quarter of the world away, and we enjoy time together. Our relationships have informed and supported sabbaticals, provide a bi-annual colloquy, like this summer’s, and have energized the younger clergy in our circles.  Discussions during this meeting resulted in a plan for a shared study, probably in the Fall, of the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
The Keystone Conference has relationships with three churches in Germany. The Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusitania is the most urban of these, and is centered in Germany’s dynamic capital, Berlin. The Evangelical Church in Anhalt is largely rural, and located deep in the Eastern portion of the country, a couple hours from Berlin. Visits there take you to places that most American Tourists miss, and also near the heart of Luther Country. and the Church of the Rhineland lies among Reformed Christians in the West of the country, along the scenic Rhine River.
You are always invited to learn more, to join us for a single day (Monday, July 27) at our upcoming Colloquy, to peruse our page on the Conference web site (https://keystoneucc.org/global-ministry/), to talk to us during any conference event, to contact those who participate more fully in these ministries, or even to join the Global Missions Team or the Germany working group (contact links on the web page).
Rev. Julie Holm
