Klaus Vollmer (theologian)

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Klaus Vollmer (born December 30, 1930 in Berlin ; † June 4, 2011 in Uelzen ) was a German Evangelical Lutheran theologian and author. He worked as a pastor and evangelist in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover .

Life

Klaus Vollmer was a trained machine fitter and actually wanted to become an engineer. At an event organized by the YMCA in 1948 he heard Johannes Busch give a lecture . He then decided to become an evangelist. From 1952 to 1955 he received his theological training at the Johanneum Evangelist School in Wuppertal . By Olav Hanssen , the former head of the theological Johanneums, his thinking was coined term. On his recommendation, he started working at the Evangelical Academy in Loccum in 1955 . In 1958 he joined the staff of the Office of missionary service of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover and worked afterwards as an evangelist in the travel service in events of churches and regional church Zeltmission . Through his ordination on July 1, 1962, he became pastor of the regional church (PL).

Regional Bishop Johannes Lilje took the view that popular missions and church missions belong together inextricably linked, and in 1968 transferred him to the Hermannsburg Mission . Now his field of work was not limited to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover. His travel service also took him abroad. From September 1, 1972 until his retirement on December 30, 1995, he worked in the People's Mission , the later missionary service of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hanover , based in Hermannsburg . Since the turn of 1989, he was also in the new federal states and in Russia operates. He was married to Kristin Vollmer for 51 years and had three children and five grandchildren.

As an evangelist, he took part in evangelism and faith conferences in Germany and from 1974 to 2004 in South Africa. In addition to the evangelistic work, Klaus Vollmer had the goal of recruiting voluntary and full-time employees for the church. From 1972 he worked in group 153 - Ev.-luth. Missiondienst eV , which saw itself as an impulse movement for employees in the communities. From his beginnings in student work in 1968, he founded the Evangelical Brotherhood Little Brothers of the Cross (today: Evangelical Sibling ) in 1977 with its headquarters in Hermannsburg and a center at Hof Beutzen , which has been in operation since 1978 , where Vollmer lived for many years.

Klaus Vollmer went on lecture tours to Asia, Eastern Europe, South America and South Africa. Some of the speeches were published on records. His books deal with topics related to the transmission of the faith.

Klaus Vollmer in the contemporary assessment

Burghard Krause assessed Klaus Vollmer 2011 as follows: “Klaus Vollmer had a charisma that has become rare : the charisma of the evangelist. There is evidence that many people found faith through his preaching. He was a passionate preacher and had an impressive ability to narrate biblical narratives in such a way that the listeners found themselves in the stories immediately. As a speaker at employee training courses at home and abroad, he knew how to offer a viable interpretation of life and the world based on faith in Jesus Christ. As a person he was very reconciling. "

Hans Christian Brandy said in 2011: “Pastor Klaus Vollmer combined clear Lutheran piety with a great breadth of thinking. In the middle of his preaching stood the mystery of the person of Jesus Christ and a theology of the cross based on Martin Luther . He had a special gift for attracting young people, challenging them intellectually, and advancing their faith. Many who heard him chose to serve in the Church. Many people in the church are grateful to him for important impulses. Personally, I am too. "

In 2011 Philipp Elhaus wrote about Klaus Vollmer: “He developed new formats for evangelistic preaching such as the Lords Party in the 1970s and set accents early on in the field of missionary community development. Without fear of contact, he sought a conversation with the natural sciences and the humanities and faced an interreligious dialogue that offered space for mutual witness to one's own certainty of truth. His presentation style was challenging and could provoke. As a person he appeared forgiving. "

literature

  • Georg Gremels (ed.): Everything starts very small. Klaus Vollmer in the mirror of his companions. Francke, Marburg 2012.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jonny Pechstein: Interview with Klaus Vollmer ( Memento of the original from June 15, 2011 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. ; Website of the YMCA Bavaria, last accessed on February 10, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cvjm-bayern.de
  2. ^ A b Johannes Neukirch: Klaus Vollmer died ; Press release of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover from June 5, 2011.
  3. ↑ Philipp Elhaus: God makes something out of it. On the death of the Evangelist Pastor Klaus Vollmer ( Memento of the original from September 3, 2014 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. ; Obituary of the Missionary Services of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hanover (pdf; 41 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.geschwmeisterschaft.de
personal data
SURNAME Vollmer, Klaus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian and author of numerous books
DATE OF BIRTH December 30, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH June 4, 2011
Place of death Hermannsburg