St. Stephen's Church (Gütersloh)

St. Stephen

Front portal from the north ring (B61)
Basic data
Denomination	Syrian Orthodox
place	Gutersloh , Germany
diocese	Patriarchal Vicariate Germany
Patronage	Stephen
Building description
inauguration	December 9, 1990
Construction type	Hall church
Coordinates 51 ° 54 '48.2 "  N , 8 ° 22' 16.6"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 54 '48.2 "  N , 8 ° 22' 16.6"  E

altar

The St. Stephen's Church is a church building of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch in the East Westphalian district town of Gütersloh .

The largest Aramaic community in Germany in terms of population lives in Gütersloh and the surrounding area . The St. Stephanus congregation, founded in 1986, is one of three Aramaic congregations in the city, along with St. Luke and St. Maria congregations, with around 480 families (as of October 2017). After she had first celebrated her services in Protestant churches, she was able to acquire a building complex on Hohenzollernstrasse / corner of Nordring in September 1987 for 600,000 D-Marks and open her own community hall there in 1988.

The community converted the adjoining former warehouse of the Eugen Friedrich glaziers into a church according to plans by the Gütersloh architects Flöttmann and Richter, which was consecrated on December 9, 1990 by Archbishop Mor Julius Jeshu Cicek . Under the given circumstances, the usual east-facing had to be dispensed with as well as a cross-shaped floor plan.

The more than 400 m² church (gable height 9 meters) offers seats for 284 people. The most striking piece of furniture is the altar , whose sandstone blocks come from the Tur Abdin . It measures 5 × 3.20 meters and weighs around 17 tons. The furnishings also include a large-format painting and a stained glass window showing the stoning of Stephen , a curtain on which the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the twelve apostles and the four evangelists can be seen, and a holy water dispenser .

In 2007, the neighboring community center was expanded for 350,000 euros. A sacristy , a confessional room, rooms etc. a. for youth work as well as apartments for the pastor, the sexton and for guests.

On the occasion of the 30-year history of the building's use as a church, Ignatius Ephrem II. Karim visited St. Stephen in October 2017 and blessed seven icon images that had been acquired on the occasion of the anniversary. They show scenes of the baptism of Jesus, Saint Stephen, washing of the feet , Cain and Abel , the prodigal son and the good Samaritan .

literature

• Parish of St. Stephanus (ed.): Chronicle of St. Stephanus Church Gütersloh, self-published, Gütersloh 2001

Web links

Commons : St. Stephanus Church (Gütersloh)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• www.stephanus-gt.com - Homepage of the St. Stephanus Congregation