Brother Service Missionsverlag
| Brother Service Missionsverlag | |
|---|---|
| purpose | Help for members of "sects" through mission and pastoral care |
| Chair: | Bruno-Hermann Vahl |
| Establishment date: | 1958 |
| Seat : | Hamburg |
| Website: | http://www.bruderdienst.de |
The brother service Missionsverlag e. V. is a Christian association that offers publications and direct contact as an orientation aid for people who belong or belonged to a religious community that it describes as a " sect " and / or are looking for help in this situation.
History and objectives
The association was founded in 1958 by Hans-Jürgen Twisselmann and other former Jehovah's Witnesses as a non-denominational work. The current chairman is the retired pastor Bruno-Hermann Vahl. The managing director is Klaus Jankowsky.
The aim is to offer help to dropouts. Some of them find a new spiritual home in a Protestant church , free church or regional church community . In terms of publishing, the Bruderdienst Missionsverlag is a specialty publisher for so-called “sect-exiting literature”, especially with regard to Jehovah's Witnesses . Where the specialist literature on special communities deals with educational work about Jehovah's Witnesses, reference is often made to brotherhood, e.g. B. by Kurt Hutten .
The association is close to the Evangelical Alliance and is a member of the Missionary Services Working Group .
activities
The association publishes the quarterly magazine Brücke zum Menschen , which mainly deals with the questions of the aforementioned group of people. There are also other publications such as B. Leaflets in the row always educated and educational brochures. Furthermore, a research service for religious writings and, to a lesser extent, advice on exit is offered. The publisher is known for the German-language edition of the books by Raymond Franz , who was a member of the governing body of Jehovah's Witnesses until 1980 and subsequently became one of its most prominent critics with the publication of the book Der Gewissenskonflikt ( Crisis of Conscience ).
Publications
- Bridge to people. A brotherly service to sect victims, seekers, etc. Contested, as well as anyone who wants to help them. The quarterly journal of the brother service , 1965ff., ZDB-ID 2393366-5.
- Raymond Franz: The conflict of conscience - do people obey or remain faithful to God? A Jehovah's Witness reports , hardcover, 431 pages, 2007, 4th edition, ISBN 3-00-020053-3 and ISBN 978-3-00-020053-3
- Raymond Franz: In Search of Christian Freedom , born, 668 p., Hamburg 2005, revised and expanded edition, ISBN 3-00-015952-5 and ISBN 978-3-00-015952-7
literature
- Art. Brotherly service , in: Ingrid Reimer, Evangelistic-Missionary Works and Institutions in the Federal Republic. Individual presentations, overviews, addresses , ed. from the Evangelical Central Office for Weltanschauungsfragen , Stuttgart 1979, p. 50f.
- Art. Brother Service Missionsverlag , in: Reinhard Hempelmann (ed.), Handbook of evangelistic-missionary works, institutions and communities. Germany - Austria - Switzerland , Stuttgart 1997, pp. 69f. ISBN 3-7675-7763-1
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Brother Service - Who We Are
- ↑ Hutten: seers, brooders, enthusiasts. The book of traditional sects and special religious movements. Quell, 13th edition, Stuttgart 1984, p. 117: "Some former congregation servants, according to Hans-Jürgen Twisselmann (...), carry out effective educational work among the witnesses (...), for example through the 'Back to Christ' -Brother service in Elmshorn. "
- ↑ This magazine and its distribution among former Jehovah's Witnesses refers e.g. B. Franz Graf-Stuhlhofer : Warning of wrong ways or self-questioning as a church. The church debate with so-called "sects". In: Christian Herrmann, Rolf Hille (ed.): Believe responsibly. A thematic book on Christian apologetics . VTR, Nuremberg 2016, pp. 284–293, there 285 and 293.