Bible Center Schleswig
The Schleswig Bible Center (formerly: North Elbian Bible Center) is - like the Barth Bible Center - an educational institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany .
history
The Bible Center was founded in 1993 in the house of the provost of the aristocratic St. Johanniskloster monastery in Schleswig and opened the following year, supported by the German Bible Society . From 1993 to 2012 it was sponsored by the North Elbian Bible Societies and in 2013, as the “Biblical Center Schleswig”, was taken over by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany.
aims
The Bible Center would like to open up new approaches to the Bible : lively, experience-based and holistic . People of all age groups are addressed and trained who - regardless of their church ties and personal beliefs - are interested in finding out about biblical content and dealing with it. The aim is to rediscover the hidden treasures and wisdom of the Bible.
Employee
- 1993–2000: Pastor Dieter Andresen
- 1993–2019: Pastor Gisela Andresen
- 1993–2003: Pastor Karsten Winter
- since 2004: Pastor Michael Bruhn
- since 2019: religious educator Julia Henningsen
Offers and program
Bible garden
The Bible garden of the Biblical Center on the grounds of the St. Johanniskloster Schleswig was laid out in 1996/97 by the landscape gardener Gudrun Lang from Hamburg. Here biblical plants are shown that can grow in the north German climate. There are also symbolic plants of the Judeo-Christian tradition and legend. The front, self-contained part of the garden has the typical shape of a monastery garden , in which the paths form a cross. The boulder in the center of this part is reminiscent of a biblical story: At God's command, Moses beats water from the rock with his stick for the thirsty people of Israel (Exodus 17). In the sculpture park behind, under the old trees, there are other biblical plants as well as symbolic plants and stone sculptures with biblical motifs.
Sculpture park
In 1999, seven sculptors created stone sculptures on the theme of "prophecy" for the garden of the North Elbian Bible Center in St. John's Monastery. In a quarry near Anröchte in Westphalia, the sculptures were carved out of a million year old, greenish sand-lime brick. Inclusions of shells and plants show the connection between sand, sea water and the living organisms of a long-gone biotope that has become stone. Stone as an archaic material has always been used symbolically and creatively by people, especially in the dialogue between art and religion . In all cultures, stones are used to connect sanctuary and immortality. That is why this stone was chosen by the artists when they were commissioned in 1999 to give shape and expression to the biblical prophets again in a symposium at the turn of the millennium.
Since 2006 there is a new part of the sculpture park "Animals of the Bible". Five well-known artists created five biblical animal sculptures in a quarry in Anröchte.
Schleswig Jesus boat
Boat discovery on the Sea of Galilee
In 1986 the water level of the Sea of Galilee in Israel was so low that the bottom was visible. While walking on the bank south of their kibbutz Ginnossar, two young men discovered the outline of a sunken boat. The boat could be recovered. Archaeologists date it to between 100 BC. Chr. To 70 AD. It possibly dates from the time of Jesus and is therefore also called Jesus-boat . The remains of the boat were 8.50 m long and 2.30 m wide. It is built from an oak frame and cedar planks, had four oars, a rudder and a square square sail. It was probably used for fishing, but was also suitable for transporting people and goods. Due to its size, it could hold 15 passengers, including a crew of five, and cargo.
Boat replica
At the Flensburg Museum Shipyard, a floatable version of this type of boat has been built for the Schleswig Bible Center, on which adventure-pedagogical trips on the Schlei are offered. The many sea and sea stories in the Bible can be brought to children and adults in a vivid way. During ecological trips, the Schlei can be experienced as a particularly beautiful body of water that is worth protecting. The Jesusboot fits well with the other offers of the Biblical Center Schleswig, in which the history and stories of the Bible can be experienced holistically and with all the senses.
The name of the boat of Jesus " Ichthys " means "fish" in the ancient Greek language; the individual letters also symbolize a short Christian confession: " Jesus Christ - God's Son - Savior ".
Publications (selection)
- A guide to the Bible Center
- Images and texts about the sculptures in the garden
- Plants in the Bible garden
- Animals of the Bible
- Schleswig Jesus boat
- Traces of the Bible in Schleswig