Tabgha Youth Church

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Tabgha Catholic youth church, which opened in the Buschhausen district of Oberhausen in 2000, is one of the first youth churches in Germany and has served as a model for similar projects beyond the state border.

Exterior view of the youth church

The project was largely developed by the Oberhausen city youth chaplain Bernd Wolharn and the city youth officer Oliver Heck and submitted to the responsible church committees in 1999. One of the main goals of the initiators was to address young people outside the church . A survey of more than 5000 Catholic youth from Oberhausen by the Institute for Church Social Research in the Diocese of Essen contributed to the development of the concept. Workshop discussions and specialist conferences served to network the target group, those responsible on site and experts. The image of the “petrol station” was chosen for the overall concept of the project in order to emphasize the “special feature of the offer”, the idea of ​​a “service point” without “collecting the customer for his own purposes”. In the preparatory phase, the alternative design of church services , a different shape of the worship room and new forms of public relations were seen as important ways of reaching the target group .

The church building of the Christ-König community was located in Oberhausen-Buschhausen for the spatial realization of the project. The building, built in 1962 with a rectangular floor plan, has been redesigned inside, including by extending the pews. The opening took place on December 9th and 10th, 2000 with the participation of Ruhrbishop Hubert Luthe .

The range of events offered by Tabgha includes, on the one hand, religious and spiritual events such as the regular youth mass "CU" on Sunday afternoons and the night prayer "Auszeit" on Wednesday evening, and on the other hand projects and events such as the photo project "Jesus an der Ruhr", the exhibition "INRI" with pictures of the French photographer Bettina Rheims or individual events tailored to the target group such as “Halfpipe to Heaven” for skaters or a high-wire offer under the motto “Between Heaven and Earth”. The project was initially understood by its initiators as a “model, pioneer and experiment”, but has long since passed the originally planned trial period of five years. It is currently being looked after on a full-time basis by the city youth pastor and two youth officers, plus volunteer services, honorary workers and volunteers.

The name of the youth church derives from the place Tabgha on the shore of the Sea of ​​Galilee .

proof

  1. ↑ Stams: The Youth Church Experiment , p. 86.
  2. ↑ Stams: Das Experiment Jugendkirche , p. 233 ff.
  3. ^ Stams: The Youth Church Experiment , p. 122.

literature

  • Michael Schmitz: The Scene Church; TABGHA opens a house of worship for young people . In: Oberhausen '02 - a year book , pp. 67–71.
  • Elisa Stams: The Youth Church Experiment. The first years of the youth church TABGHA in Oberhausen. An exemplary case study on the problem of youth pastoral reorientation . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2008 (Dissertation Duisburg-Essen 2007) ISBN 978-3-17-020519-2 .

Web links

Coordinates: 51 ° 30 ′ 16.6 "  N , 6 ° 49 ′ 56.9"  E