Gospel Life Center
The Gospel Life Center e. V. , or GLC for short (formerly Word of Faith - Christian Center eV ) is a Christian free church in Feldkirchen near Munich . It is assigned to the so-called Word of Faith Movement (also called "Faith Movement").
The Gospel Life Center is organized as a non-profit association . The association includes the Gospel Art STUDIO , a theater café, and the Gospel Art KOLLEG , a school for performing arts .
history
The origin of the Gospel Life Center lies in a Christian center , which arose in 1982 from a house group of a Munich community and was initially located on Autharistraße in Harlaching .
The founders, John and Mirjana Angelina, had heard a "call" in the USA. a. to carry the “message of faith” representing Kenneth Hagin and Kenneth Copeland in the USA to Germany. Main focus of content: literal interpretation of the Bible (literally inspired and true), charismatic orientation of the worship service (mostly led by theological lay preachers who are trained at Bible schools but have not studied theology, focus on the preaching of the word of God, modern church music and “demonstrations of the Holy Spirit ”in the form of chanting“ in other tongues ”, prophecies and other phenomena that are interpreted as inspired by God). To fulfill this call they integrated themselves at the beginning in the “Charismatic Center” Munich and took part in a house group there. After a while, they established their own religious community in their home on Autharistraße.
In 1983 it moved to an office building on Rüdesheimer Strasse in Munich's Westend . In the fall of 1984 the starting shot was given for the first year of a full-time Bible school . For the first time in 1985 an international conference of faith could be held. This event took place annually from 1985 to 1991.
In 1986 the community rooms were moved to the current Am Kiesgrund building in Feldkirchen near Munich. In February 1991 the international conference of faith was replaced by the European pastors' conference. This event took place annually from 1991 to 2000. In 1991 gospel life medien GmbH was founded . In 1992 a mission school was established, from which the mission department of the Gospel Life Center has developed in the meantime.
In 1996 the name changed from Word of Faith, Christian Center to Gospel Life Center . It was important for the congregation to give it a modern, contemporary appearance in order to be able to present the same message in a more appealing way to a broader audience. The dovetailing (e.g. through invitations to the field service) with the original fathers of the faith movement (e.g. Kenneth Hagin and other representatives) had been broken over the years in favor of a somewhat different profile. One wanted to approach the other free churches in the Munich area and network more closely. The congregation became part of the "Munich Heads Circle", an association of the free church communities in Munich. The Munich leader is now integrated into the German Evangelical Alliance Munich.
From 2005 to 2006 the Gospel Life Center was a member and supporter of the large evangelization event ProChrist 2006 , the main events of which took place from March 19 to 26 in the Olympiahalle in Munich . In 2006 the television work Gospel Life TV began and the "IHP" was renamed the International Harvest Plan . In October 2007 the community celebrated its 25th anniversary and inaugurated the newly renovated premises with a new community hall.
The Gospel Life Center has been a member of the Evangelical Alliance Munich since 2007. It is also a guest member of the Working Group of Christian Churches in Munich (ACKiM), a local association of the Working Group of Christian Churches in Germany (ACK). The Gospel Life Center does not belong to any church federation, so it is independent as a single church with the legal form of a non-profit association.
Current situation
The founder and pastor of the Gospel Life Center is John Angelina, born on May 20, 1954 in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. He also played in his former band John Angelina's AMEN and is the author of several books. The leadership has changed many times in the past few years. The current leadership of the Gospel Life Center also includes his wife Mirjana Angelina, co-founder of the Gospel Life Center, director of Gospel Art STUDIO, speaker for radio, TV and commercials as well as the author of plays, and Stephan Steinle, head of mission at the Gospel Life Center and founder and Head of International Harvest Plan .
The Gospel Life Center states that through the service of Stephan Steinle's India Harvest Plan in India and Pakistan over the past eight years (as of January 2007) it has led about 3 million people to believe in Jesus Christ and initiated the planting of 73 new churches.
According to the Zoe Gospel Center (Zoe Evangelistic Association) in Zurich, the Gospel Life Center in Munich supported and accompanied their work, especially in the early years.
The Gospel Life Center is denomination-free in the sense of belonging to a classic denomination , but does not intend to found a denomination or start partner churches.
Church services
The services are contemporary. They dispense with traditional forms and liturgies , but are nevertheless carefully planned because of their dimensions. Modern technology is used, such as a video projector and public address system . At the same time there is baby and toddler care, a children's church service and a separate youth church service.
A special feature are the broadcast formats of the Sunday church services on regional radio on FM 92.4 MHz and on television on münchen.tv several times a week.
Similar to the Gospel Forum in Stuttgart, the Gospel Life Center represents a neo-charismatic , fundamentalist theology that assumes the infallibility of the Bible .
working area
The community has its own theater hall with 90 seats. The Gospel Art Theatercafé was founded in 2004. This also includes the Gospel Art STUDIO , which aims to bring the Gospel into the cultural and everyday life of society through the performing arts. In the Gospel Art COLLEGE drama and dance is taught.
There are also "gospel life at home" (a home group work ), the "gospel life kids" (a regular Sunday school, which takes place parallel to the Sunday morning church services), the "Gospel Mini Club" (a parent-child group) “Gospel Life Youth” YOUnited and the work area “Business People”. The “Music” and “Amen Music” work areas are also part of the Gospel Life Center.
Teaching
The Gospel Life Center sees itself as an independent free church, which represents the Christian New Testament teachings of the Bible, but is a member of many free church congregations and churches in the so-called "worldwide body of Christ".
The Gospel Life Center is committed to the Apostles' Creed :
“The Christian teaching of the Triune God: Father, Son and Spirit.
The belief that Jesus Christ is God's Son, became man, died for us, and was resurrected.
Belief in the work of the Holy Spirit today, that He reveals God to people and fills Christians with His power.
The belief that the Bible is the word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit. "
literature
- Word of Faith Movement and Gospel Life Center in: Georg Schmid, Georg Otto Schmid: Churches, sects, religions . 7th edition. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Zurich 2003, pp. 121f + 149. ISBN 3-290-17215-5
- Reinhard Hempelmann: The Word and Faith Movement . In: Reinhard Hempelmann (ed.): Panorama of the new religiosity. Search for meaning and promise of salvation at the beginning of the 21st century . 2nd revised edition on behalf of the Evangelical Central Office for Weltanschauungsfragen (EZW). Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2005, pp. 495-499, here p. 498. ISBN 3-579-02320-9
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ a b c Self-portrait The leadership of the gospel life center ( Memento from June 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) of the GLC (accessed October 1, 2012)
- ^ Self-presentation of the GLC's history ( Memento from May 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on July 3, 2008)
- ^ A b Gospel Life Center in Associated Congregations, Works and Movements of the Evangelical Alliance Munich
- ^ Working group of Christian churches in Munich. Retrieved June 10, 2020 . , on ack-bayern.de
- ↑ Zoe's self-portrayal connections (accessed February 2, 2016)
- ↑ Homepage Gospel Life Center
Coordinates: 48 ° 9 '14.3 " N , 11 ° 43' 34.3" E