European Youth Day of the New Apostolic Church
The European Youth Day (EYD) of the New Apostolic Church took place from May 21 to 24, 2009 on the exhibition grounds in Düsseldorf and in the LTU Arena . With around 35,000 participants, it was the largest event in the history of the New Apostolic Church on European soil to date .
Creation and preparation
Youth days take place once a year in the New Apostolic Church. Each District Church organizes its own youth convention; a joint youth convention for all young New Apostolic Christians in Europe has not yet been held. The Europe Day idea was developed by Chief Apostle Richard Fehr in the late 1990s .
The implementation of the idea was decided in November 2005, immediately after the Catholic World Youth Day (WYD), when a committee of the New Apostolic Church dealt with the topic for the first time. At their meeting in Zurich, the District Apostles active in Europe agreed to the preparation of a multinational community experience.
With regard to the WYD, Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber at the time said in an interview: "The Catholic World Youth Day has shown that such a major event provides impulses for a blessed development for young people."
The preparations for this largest youth convention in NAK history took three years. The four-day youth program cost ten million euros. Over 3 million came directly from individual donations.
Motto and theme song
The motto of the EYD was "Christ - my future". This was dealt with in different ways in the church services: The intensive participation of young people in the congregations was treated as a general guideline for the event. Chief Apostle Leber would like the young people to get involved in the congregations today and contribute to openness in order to counteract restrictive behavior that may prevent young people from being treated equally everywhere. In this context one understood a closeness to Christ in the personal life of faith and in the community to be intensified .
District Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider also said at the open-air concert on Saturday evening: “I can well understand that some of you do not like the overall NAK package. You can throw away traditions and traditional rules, but keep Christ, that is the most important thing. ”The New Apostolic faith should therefore be more oriented towards Christ in the future, with the youth being the decisive factor.
Last but not least, one should keep the goal in faith to become more like Christ in order to be able to be with him in the future.
The title song of the EYD was the specially composed gospel "Come to my Jesus". The composer , Sigi Hänger, is 36 years old, runs a private music school and is a trained school musician. He also works as a conductor for the NAK. The song can be downloaded free of charge from the EYD homepage. The lyrics can also be viewed.
Attendees
Official list of youth participants by country
| country | Teenagers |
|---|---|
| Germany | 27,015 |
| Switzerland | 1.916 |
| France | 849 |
| Netherlands | 604 |
| Austria | 276 |
| Russia | 217 |
| Romania | 213 |
| Spain | 202 |
| Ukraine | 140 |
| Italy | 128 |
| Luxembourg | 102 |
| other | 839 |
| total | 32,373 |
The website of the church published the following round numbers:
- 35,000 participants from 54 countries
- 2,500 volunteers
- 46,000 participants in the closing service on Sunday
- More than 200 offers in the trade fair program
- More than 100,000 meals served each day
- 43,000 packed lunches were distributed for the young people's journey home
- More than 250 buses brought some of the young people home
course
The EYD officially took place from May 21 to 24, 2009. The majority of the participants arrived on Ascension Day, as opening services were planned for the evening. Due to the different overnight accommodations of the participants, there were different places of worship. Most of the young people who stayed with host families around Düsseldorf, as well as the young people living there, attended church services in the 34 designated congregations. For example in Bochum, Essen, Duisburg, Cologne, Recklinghausen and Wuppertal. These services were held by selected apostles and bishops. The participants, who stayed in one of the seven exhibition halls, which had been converted into sleeping halls, mostly attended the evening prayer with Chief Apostle Leber on the exhibition grounds.
On the following Friday, May 22nd, 2009, the EYD officially began for everyone with the opening event in the LTU Arena. In addition to a musical program, Chief Apostle Wilhelm Leber declared the Youth Day open. The young people could now use the various offers and events. A guide informed the participants about the program items on over 300 pages, provided them with background information and included the songs intended for the church services. In the evening everyone gathered again in the LTU Arena for the “Night of Lights”.
Saturday was marked by a colorful program. The LTU Arena could not be used on that day due to Fortuna Düsseldorf's promotion game . The panel discussions with the head of the church were seen as the highlight of the program.
The last day of the event and Sunday mainly comprised a service in the LTU arena. All NAK members from the surrounding communities were invited. In addition, District Apostle Armin Brinkmann , who is responsible for North Rhine-Westphalia, invited members of the Association of Apostolic Congregations (VAG for short). The invitation issued in advance to participate in the youth groups of the VAG was only accepted unofficially by individuals. During the divine service, before the Lord's Supper, the Chief Apostle made a surprising gesture of reconciliation addressed to the VAG. After the divine service, the European Youth Day of the New Apostolic Church officially ended and the participants began their journey home.
Most visited lectures
Lectures of the EYD that were attended the most and received the greatest response on the Internet were:
- The ecumenical lecture “Approach each other - talk to each other” followed by a panel discussion
took place on Friday, May 22, 2009 from 3:30 pm to 4:45 pm in hall 7A. The speaker was Apostle Volker Kühnle, the panelist was EZW speaker Michael Utsch and the discussion moderator was NAK spokesman Peter Johanning. The lecture by V. Kühnle on the NAC and ecumenism in history, present and future filled the largest part. He presented various research results on the change in attitudes of the NAK towards ecumenism. Afterwards, V. Kühnle and M. Utsch discussed the planned controversial nature of the ecumenical capacity of the NAK. Even if Michael Utsch sees a future for the NAK in ecumenism, he considers this path to be difficult, as the church still adheres to some special doctrines. Utsch welcomed the relaxed atmosphere of the audience, who also loudly endorsed some of the NAK-critical statements by the EZW speaker. Apostle Kühnle appealed to “join together” and explained to the young people why ecumenism should be striven for. Then you could Apostel Kühnle or Dr. Utsch ask questions. Both received applause from the 3000 participants at the end of the lecture.
"Night of Lights"
The Night of Lights was an evening event in the LTU Arena with music, choirs and dance groups. The focus was on the subject of light. The arena was darkened and illuminated by the visitors with previously distributed blue LED lights. So the subject of light was taken up again.
Open air concert
Another musical highlight was the open-air concert on Saturday evening from 9:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
First, some jazz pieces were performed which, according to the organizers, could also function as future church music . Then all EYD songs were presented and sung together with the audience, together with a youth choir from Thuringia . Songs from the Sunday service were also recorded. The District Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider of France and Urs Hebeisen from the Philippines appeared as a surprise guest. Schneider appealed to the young people: “I can well understand that some don't like the overall NAK package. You can throw away traditions and traditional rules, but keep Christ, that is the most important thing! ”District Apostle Hebeisen called out to the young people:“ In a few years you will be the church - and actually already now! ”A young person from Austria reflected on behalf of the youth the EJT. Despite being overwhelmed, one should not forget one's own contribution and therefore asked for intercession .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Press release of the European Youth Day of May 22, 2009 (information provided by the organizer) (PDF file; 44 kB)
- ↑ AD HOC News First European Youth Day of the New Apostolic Church opened in Düsseldorf
- ↑ ejt: aktuell - Issue 2 of Sunday, May 24th, 2009, page 15 ( Memento of the original of June 12th, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ ejt: current journal of May 24, 2009, page 6
- ↑ ejt2009.eu EYD song voting ( Memento of the original from May 31, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ ejt: current journal from May 23, 2009, page 5
- ↑ nak.org - EJT
- ↑ - ejt2009.eu Information on the welcoming services
- ↑ EJT Zeitung 1st edition with reports on the first day ( memento of the original from June 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ - nak.org 'We reach out for reconciliation'
- ↑ EJT Guide; Events on Friday, p. 108
- ↑ culture of faith - applause also for NAK-critical ( memento of the original of May 31, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ ejt: current journal from May 23, 2009; Ecumenism - a process that takes time, p. 11
- ↑ Night of lights - blue sea of lights with a brilliant finale
- ↑ EJT Guide; Events on Saturday, p. 152
- ↑ ejt: current journal; “You are the Church, in the future and today,” p. 6
Web links
Web links of the New Apostolic Church
Reports
- Ad Hoc News - New Apostolic Church invites you to European Youth Day - Over 35,000 young Christians from all over the world expected - Counteract the decline in membership
- DerWesten - New Apostolic Church celebrates European Youth Day
- WDR Audio - New Apostolic European Youth Day
- Center.tv Video - 1st European Youth Day in Düsseldorf
- Bild-Zeitung - European Youth Day opened in the football stadium
- Ad Hoc News (ddp-nrw) - First European Youth Day of the New Apostolic Church opened in Düsseldorf
- Neue Rhein Zeitung - Christian international understanding