Vesper Church
Under the name Vesperkirche , more than 50 predominantly Protestant parishes in Baden-Württemberg , Bavaria , Rhineland-Palatinate , Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia carry out social projects. These take place in the winter months, for the benefit of the poor and needy. The core of the offer is a warm lunch, which is offered at a rather symbolic price. The other offers vary depending on the location; They offer, for example, snack packages for the night, medical care, free hairdressers, discussions on crisis management , career advice, a play area for children or concerts and lectures.
The term “Vespers” refers less to Middle High German Vespers , which is equated with evening time, or Vespers , which are used in liturgy . But more on the Swabian term, which used to be equated with an in-between meal and today with a main meal.
The establishment of Vesper churches expresses the fact that parishes take sides for people who “can no longer participate in social life because they lack the money”. The Protestant regional bishop Frank Otfried July endorses the idea of the Vesper Church and sees it as an important signal in the present, while at the same time calling for political reforms to improve the situation of the needy.
history
Vesper Church Stuttgart
The first project of this kind started in 1995 in the Leonhardskirche in Stuttgart . Diakonie pastor Martin Friz had the idea for this project . The Vesperkirche Stuttgart is organized annually from January to March by the Stuttgart Diakoniepfarramt and hundreds of volunteers from different age and professional groups. It is important to them that those seeking help not only receive food, but are accepted as people and can make friends. While around 70 needy people came every day at the beginning, there are now around 600 (as of 2018).
The Vesper Church is financed by private donations . In addition, various companies and institutions are getting involved by providing medicines, baked goods or hot drinks free of charge or at very reduced prices. The Schwäbische Tafel Stuttgart supplies the Vesperkirche cheaply with food. The total costs per season in Stuttgart amount to around 250,000 euros (as of 2018).
In 2007 the Vesperkirche Stuttgart received the Hans-Peter-Stihl -Prize and publishes its own “Vesperkirchen-Zeitung”.
COVID-19
After the Vesper Church always took place in a church or inside a building, it was held outdoors for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic . A summer Vespers church is organized in Freudenstadt . Every Friday until the end of October there is a reduced meal that can easily be eaten by hand. Because others also revise their concept or wait to see how the situation develops. It can be assumed that this approach will also be adopted by other initiatives.
Venues
The following parishes have taken up the idea, some do not take part every year:
Baden-Württemberg
- Aalen , Magdalenenkirche Wasseralfingen
- Backnang , Catholic parish hall of St. Johannes
- Biberach an der Riss , Martin Luther parish hall (ecumenical)
- Bopfingen , City Church (ecumenical)
- Calw , city church
- Ehingen , city church
- Ellwangen , Catholic community center (ecumenical)
- Esslingen , Frauenkirche
- Freudenstadt , Ecumenical Vespers Church
- Geislingen an der Steige , Pauluskirche
- Giengen an der Brenz , town church
- Göppingen , city church
- Heidenheim an der Brenz , Pauluskirche (ecumenical)
- Herrenberg , Herrenberg Hospital Church
- Heubach , St. Ulrich Church Heubach
- Horb am Neckar , Steinhaus, (ecumenical) from May 2018 with "Summer Vespers Church"
- Karlsruhe , Johanniskirche on Werderplatz, the social hot spot in the southern part of the city
- Kressbronn on Lake Constance , Ecumenical Vesper Church on the Lake,
- Kirchheim unter Teck , Thomaskirche
- Leonberg , Evangelical Methodist Paulskirche
- Ludwigsburg , Friedenskirche
-
Mannheim
- Citykirche Concordia
- Pauluskirche Mannheim , in 2008 the first children's parish church nationwide took place here.
- Quantities , Paulus Church (ecumenical),
- Mutlangen , community center (ecumenical)
- Nagold , city church
- Nürtingen , Luther Church
- Öhringen , hospital church for a stop
- Pforzheim , city church
- Pfullendorf , Christ Church
- Ravensburg , Evangelical City Church , alternating with Weingarten every year from 2020
- Reutlingen , Nikolaikirche
- Rheinfelden (Baden) , Gambrinus meeting point (ecumenical)
- Rottenburg am Neckar , Evangelical Community Center
- Schwäbisch Gmünd , Evangelical Augustine Church (ecumenical)
- Singing , Luther Church
- Stuttgart , Leonhardkirche
- Tübingen , Martinskirche
- Ulm , Pauluskirche
- Villingen-Schwenningen , Pauluskirche Schwenningen
- Waldstetten (Ostalbkreis) , St. Johannes senior center (ecumenical)
- Weingarten , city church, alternating with Ravensburg every year from 2020
- Wiblingen , Franziskus- and Zacchaeus parish hall
Bavaria
In Bavaria, every congregation that founds a new Vesper church receives € 15,000 as start-up capital from the regional church .
- Memmingen , Christ Church (Memmingen)
- Neufahrn near Freising is expected in March 2021
- Nuremberg
- Schweinfurt , St. John's Vesper Church
- Würzburg , St. Thomas Church
Rhineland-Palatinate
- Ludwigshafen , youth church , since 2011 with children's parish church
Lower Saxony
North Rhine-Westphalia
- Bielefeld , Neustädter Marienkirche
- Gütersloh , in the Martin Luther Church
- Velbert , Apostle Church (Velbert)
- Wülfrath , town church
Similar concepts
- Church kitchen, Reconciliation Church (Munich)
- Vesperkirche Plus, Methodist Church (Friedenskirche) in Villingen-Schwenningen
- Tischlein-Deck-dich in Switzerland, in addition to food deliveries similar to the table , also food in the church.
Awards
See also
literature
- Diaconal work of the Protestant Church in Württemberg e. V : Together at one table - Vesper churches invite you . Stuttgart 2012.
- Martin Dorner: With God and your neighbor at the table - A theological-empirical study on the Vesper Church , University of Regensburg 2016.
- Martin Fritz: Break your bread to the hungry - The Stuttgart Vesper Church. Siberburg 2002, ISBN 3-87230-777-0 .
- Guido Fuchs: Ma (h) l different - eating and drinking in church services and the church. Regensburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-7917-2574-1 .
- Brigitte Jähnigen, Fritz Moser: The Vesper Church, a Stuttgart model. Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 1997, ISBN 3-7918-3455-X .
- Reiner Lang: The Stuttgart Vesper Church. Issue 2. Diakoniepfarramt of the Evangelical Church Community of Stuttgart, Stuttgart 2006.
- Christoph Schäfer: EinBlick, Vesperkirche - a temporary utopia in the heart of the wintry city. In: M. Tröndle (ed.): The culture conception. Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2017, ISBN 978-3-658-16300-6 , p. 29 f.
- Thomas Schlag: Open to everyone - Open to everyone? - The example of the Vesper Church movement as a challenge to diversity-sensitive community and church development In: Zeitschrift für Pastoraltheologie. Volume 37, No. 2, 2017, ISSN 0555-9308 .
- Stefan Selke: Tafeln and Vesper churches as places of poverty reduction and social participation? Mandelbaum Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-85476-457-1 .
- Karin Ott: Sharing life with one another. The Vesperkirche Stuttgart as a meeting place across social walls. In: Practice of community education . 63rd volume, issue 3, Leipzig 2010, pp. 25-27.
- Evangelical Church in Württemberg: Vesperkirchen 2017–2018 in Baden-Württemberg (PDF; 225.8 kB) December 12, 2017.
- Claudia Cornelsen , Ilka Sobottke_ ArmSelig. The Mannheim Vesper Church - Pictures, Stories, Thoughts , Mannheim 2008, Evangelical Church Mannheim, ISBN 978-3-0002-3346-3
- Vesper Church. Economy of compassion or a question of justice? - An ethical discussion, Grin Verlag 2019, ISBN 978-3-6689-3845-8
Web links
- Vesper Church Stuttgart
- Kindervesperkirche
- Vesper churches in Baden-Württemberg (PDF; 223 kB)
- Diaconal work , Vesper churches and table communities in Bavaria
Individual evidence
- ↑ Vesperkirche Ravensburg: Vepserkirche deals
- ↑ The Swabian Cuisine - Vespers and Snacks , accessed February 28, 2018.
- ↑ evangelisch.de: Vespers and Vesper Church , accessed on February 28, 2018.
- ↑ Regional Bishop Frank Otfried July, quoted in according to Idea Spektrum , No. 2 of January 11, 2012, Art. Vesper churches are becoming increasingly popular. P. 33.
- ↑ Stuttgarter Zeitung , March 1, 2018: The temporary home closes , accessed March 4, 2018.
- ↑ Veperkirche Stuttgart: The Vesperkirche lives on donations
- ^ Vesperkirche Stuttgart: Vesperkirchen Zeitung
- ↑ Die neue Welle , July 29, 2020: Summer Vespers Church started in Freudenstadt , accessed July 4, 2020
- ↑ evangelisch.de , June 4, 2020: New concepts for Vesper churches , accessed July 4, 2020
- ↑ Schwäbische Zeitung , June 5, 2020: Vesperkirche im Schussental: Team changes the concept due to the corona pandemic , accessed July 4, 2020
- ↑ Backnanger Kreiszeitung , November 8th, 2017: We always have a reference , accessed February 27th, 2018
- ↑ This is what the first Vesper church in Ehingen offers. January 17, 2019, accessed November 9, 2019 .
- ↑ Ecumenical Vesper Church Heidenheim. Heidenheim church district , accessed on December 5, 2019 .
- ↑ On the way to the Vesper Church. Gäubote , November 29, 2019, accessed December 5, 2019 .
- ↑ Meal - Church I like ( Memento from March 4, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Schwarzwälder Bote, May 9, 2018: Now comes the Horber Summer Vespers Church , accessed on May 10, 2018.
- ↑ Südkurier , March 3, 2017: Vesper Church: A warm meal for 1.50 euros , accessed January 16, 2018
- ↑ Handover on the Rhine Bridge , accessed on December 5, 2011
- ↑ Schwäbische Zeitung , April 6, 2016: While eating, conversations arise as if by themselves , accessed February 27, 2018 (article only available for subscribers)
- ↑ a b Schwäbische Zeitung , November 5, 2018: Weingarten is taking itself out of the game as the venue for the Vesper Church 2019 , accessed March 16, 2019
- ↑ Badische Zeitung , February 21, 2018: Vesper Church will take place twice more , accessed: February 27, 2018
- ↑ Completion of the Waldstetter Vesper Church. February 10, 2019, accessed August 18, 2019 .
- ↑ Food for an obulus at the Wiblinger Advent table. December 8, 2015, accessed November 9, 2019 .
- ↑ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria , February 21, 2018: 100,000 euros for the start of new Vesper churches in Bavaria , accessed: March 4, 2018
- ↑ Everyone is (s) t right here! Vesperkiche Memmingen, accessed on December 5, 2019 .
- ↑ New concepts for Vesper churches. evangelisch.de , June 4, 2020, accessed June 20, 2020 .
- ↑ MahlZeit, the fifth , accessed: March 4, 2018
- ^ Vesper Church Nuremberg
- ↑ Vesper Church Schweinfurt
- ↑ Vesper Church Würzburg
- ↑ faz.net , January 15, 2018: More and more Vesper churches in Bavaria , accessed January 16, 2018.
- ↑ KinderVesperKirche , accessed on February 23, 2018.
- ↑ Diakonisches Werk Hannover: "Vesperkirchenzeitung" Vesperkirche - Together at the table , accessed March 5, 2018
- ^ First Vesper Church in Braunschweig , accessed March 10, 2019
- ↑ Bielefeld Church invites 8,000 people to eat. February 13, 2019, accessed August 18, 2019 .
- ^ The Vesper Church in Bielefeld. Retrieved August 18, 2019 .
- ↑ Vesperkirche Güterlsloh. Retrieved January 16, 2018 .
- ↑ Vesper Church no longer in the city church in future. October 18, 2019, accessed November 9, 2019 .
- ^ Vesperkirche Niederberg ( Memento of March 8, 2018 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 8, 2018.
- ↑ Anniversary - 15 Years of the Church Kitchen , accessed March 4, 2018.
- ↑ Südkurier , July 3, 2018: It's about more than just food - Vesperkirche Plus also offers food for the soul , accessed July 8, 2018
- ↑ Tischlein-deck-dich , accessed September 30, 2018.