Christians at work

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The association FGBMFI Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International Christians in Profession Germany eV sees itself as an evangelical - charismatic so-called professional or class mission and a non-denominational association of professionals. Christians at work is the German-speaking branch of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International (FGBMFI) and has the legal form of a registered association based in Stuttgart. The office of the association is in Wesel . The association's previous names were International Association of Christian Businessmen (IVCG) and, from 1965 to 2001, Full Gospel Businessmen .

distribution

According to its own information, the FGBMFI works in 160 countries.

The website shows around 85 local groups, so-called chapters , for Germany . Georg Schmid gives about 100 chapters in Germany, 16 in Switzerland and four in Austria for 2003.

history

Demos Shakarian , who died in 1994, founded the first FGBMFI local chapter in 1953 with twenty other founding members in Los Angeles / California . Shakarian reports on various visionary experiences that led to the founding of a Christian businessmen's association. In the year after the foundation, the first issue of the association's own magazine VOICE was published, in which nine local groups ( chapters ) of business people of the full gospel in the USA invited to their events. In 1956 the first groups emerged outside the United States, for example in Toronto , Calcutta , Monterrey , Hong Kong and London .

The German section was founded in Stuttgart in 1958. The International Association of Christian Businessmen , which was founded almost simultaneously in Germany and Switzerland in 1957 and whose name was initially adopted by the German branch, was involved in this establishment . Adolf Zisser was appointed president of the association. The founding assembly elected Eugene Bird , a US officer who was director of the Spandau war crimes prison from 1964 to 1972 and the controversial author of a biography of Hess, as his deputy .

In 1965, after a period of strong growth, there was a split within the German section of the FGBMFI. Above all, the former members of the International Association of Christian Businesspeople , founded in 1957, fought massively against the Pentecostal influences to which a number of the local groups had opened up and left the international association of the FGBMFI. The Pentecostal-oriented circles that remained with the international association then started again under the name Business People of the Full Gospel .

From 1991, Dr. Ulrich Freiherr von Schnurbein was only the second President of the German Association and handed over the office to Andreas Schreiber in 2017.

The German-speaking branch of the FGBMFI has been called Christians at Work since 2001 and - contrary to its original guidelines - is also open to women. The last name change also shows that the target group of this association is no longer exclusively business people, but working people in the broadest sense.

Shakarian remained president of the international association until his death. He was succeeded by his son Richard Shakarian, who held this office until his death in 2017.

Teaching and goals

The Christians in their profession are committed to the doctrinal statements of the Apostles' Creed , but also set special accents which identify them as an evangelical-charismatic movement. So they hold the Bible "in its entirety [as] inspired by God and infallible standard in matters of faith and behavior". For them, the personal experience of being baptized in the Spirit is part of the basic spiritual equipment of a Christian - combined above all with the gift of speaking in tongues , but also with other charisms listed in the New Testament . They see their most important concern in the observance of the so-called missionary command of Jesus.

The declared aim of the association is to be a platform for working Christians of different denominations and professions for the exchange of spiritual experiences in everyday life. In addition, the intensive world evangelization and missionary work according to the mission command with the following signs is their goal.

In order to maintain unity, issues on which opinions may differ are excluded. The members usually remain in their church. Christians at work refrain from recommending any church.

Working method and organization

The prerequisite for membership in a chapter is recognition of the 10 tenets of the FGBMFI. The visit to the usually monthly chapter evenings is open to all interested parties and usually exceeds the number of members of the individual local group considerably.

The chapter evenings take place exclusively in public rooms. This includes managed club and town houses, hotels and restaurants. In addition to a meal that each participant has to pay for themselves, the focus of an event is the frequently two-part lecture by a guest speaker who reports on the role of the Christian faith in his personal and professional career. This is followed by an exchange of experience and discussion. There is also the possibility of personal discussions and intercessory prayer for private matters.

In addition to the local meetings, regional conferences and national congresses take place, which are coordinated and organized by the Germany Office of Christians in Work . The executive board includes Andreas Schreiber (President), Peter Rode (Vice President), Klaus Dennstädt (Treasurer, born March 28, 1958), Luis Blanco, Georg Damböck and Baptist Deuber.

Further branches of work

Christians at work publish the German-language edition of the international FGBMFI magazine VOICE . This magazine appears quarterly and bears the subtitle Forum for shaping life in family and work . The editorial office is located in the so-called Germany office Deggendorf of Christians at work .

The social diaconal association Mit Another ev is another line of work. About this association is u. a. supports a family-relieving facility for disabled children and young people in Jerusalem .

In addition, Christians practice collaboration with other denominational and non-denominational associations that pursue similar goals. For example, they belong to the sponsors of the Christian Business Conference and participate in the Christian Cooperation Exchange .

See also

literature

  • Demos Shakarian, John Sherill, Elizabeth Sherrill: The Happiest People on Earth. 17th edition. Erzhausen 2001, ISBN 978-3-87482-501-6 .
  • Georg Schmid, Georg Otto Schmid (Hrsg.): The churches, sects, religions. A manual. Founded by Oswald Eggenberger. 7th edition 2003, Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, ISBN 3-290-17215-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ On the term see: Paul Gerhard Möller: Article: Berufsmissions , in: Evangelisches Gemeindelexikon, Wuppertal 1978 (edited by H. Burkhardt, E. Geldbach and Kurt Heimbucher), p. 59 Sp2 - p. 61, Sp1
  2. ↑ http://christen-im-beruf.de/JoomlaMitte.aspx?page=impressum
  3. ^ Hansjörg Hemminger, Annette Kick: The Pentecostal Movement. gemedienst.de, archived from the original on February 5, 2007 ; Retrieved on August 22, 2008 : "... The International Association of Business People of the Full Gospel (GDVEI) / Christians at Work was founded in the USA in 1953 under the name Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship [...] The GDVEI is not allowed to cooperate with the International Association of Christian Businessmen (IVCG) , who works in a similar way outwardly, but who separated from the GDVEI in 1965 and since then has viewed Pentecostal theology critically. It is evangelical in a broad sense and non-denominational. "
  4. ^ Website of Christians at Work ; Accessed August 20, 2008
  5. ↑ Christians in the profession / directory of the chapters in D , viewed on August 21, 2008
  6. ↑ a b : Churches, Sects, Religions , 2003
  7. ↑ Demos Shakarian: The happiest people on earth , Darmstadt 1997 (5th edition)
  8. ↑ a b History of the FGBMFI / Christians at work ( Memento from May 10, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on August 19, 2008
  9. ↑ Eugene Bird: Hess. The deputy of the Führer. Flight to England and British captivity. Nuremberg and Spandau Munich 1974
  10. ^ History of the Heidelberg Chapter. Christians at Work , Heidelberg Chapter, December 2008, archived from the original on April 11, 2012 ; Retrieved on August 20, 2008 (with the date September 18, 2001): "[...] resigned from the association because he no longer wanted to support the change of name to" Christians at work "and the possibility of women membership."
  11. ↑ quoted according to the beliefs of Christians in the profession / FGBMFI ( Memento of May 10, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on August 21, 2008
  12. ↑ ibid
  13. ↑ The 10 principles of the FGBMFI , viewed on October 3, 2012
  14. ^ Roland Röhrich, Winfried Stadtmüller: Annual report 1971/72. Röntgen-Gymnasium Würzburg, Würzburg 1972, p. 21.
  15. ^ Page from VOICE international ( Memento of August 27, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on September 3, 2008
  16. ^ Website Christians at work , VOICE magazine ( Memento from December 9, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on September 3, 2008
  17. ↑ Christians at Work / Information on Nofshon Akim ( Memento of April 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on September 3, 2008
  18. ↑ Press release of the Christian Economic Conference: "Members of various associations, groups and churches are involved in the conference: Working Group of Protestant Entrepreneurs (AEU), Association of Catholic Entrepreneurs (BKU), Christians at Work (CiB), Christians in Business (CiW), Free Christian Youth Community (FCJG), Discussion Forum Life and Faith (GLG), International Association of Christian Business People (IVCG), International Council of Christians in Commerce (ICCC), Catholics in Business and Administration (KKV), the Free Churches as well as the Evangelical and Catholic Church . "; Accessed September 3, 2008
  19. ↑ Christian Cooperation Exchange / List of Organizations ; Accessed September 3, 2008