Wolf-Dietrich Gutsch

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Wolf-Dietrich Gutsch (born September 7, 1931 in Berlin ; † March 7, 1981 there ) was a German Protestant catechist , pastor and youth worker .

Live and act

Gutsch grew up with his mother, because his father was a Wehrmacht soldier and was considered missing when Wolf-Dietrich was 14 years old. He attended elementary school in Berlin and in Königs Wusterhausen . At the age of 15 he took part in a church preparation period in Stuttgart , during which he decided in an experience of faith to become a church worker. Dietrich built a youth squad in Berlin-Karlshorst and also worked ecumenically with Roman Catholic Christians. From 1949 to 1950 he completed an apprenticeship in the seminar for church service in Berlin-Weißensee , which also included a catechetical internship in Berlin-Oberschöneweide . From 1951 to 1953 he continued his training in the seminar for church service in Berlin-Zehlendorf . From 1953 to 1955 he was a catechist at the Education Committee in Berlin-Lichtenberg . When the project type of an ecumenical construction camp was developed in church youth work , he worked for one year in 1955 at the Gossner Mission in the GDR for ecumenical construction camps. In this year a first ecumenical camp was carried out in Berlin-Karlshorst at the church "To the happy message", which was under his direction. In the following year - 1956 - the first ecumenical construction camp took place in cooperation with the youth department of the Ecumenical Council of Churches and the National Development Organization of the GDR. In 1961 Gutsch became a youth delegate at the 3rd General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in New Delhi , took part in the 1st All-Christian Peace Assembly in Prague and became a member of the GDR regional committee of the CFK, of which he was a member until his untimely death. In 1965 he became a consultant for Ecumenical Reconstruction Camps and national correspondent for the youth department of the Ecumenical Council of Churches at the Working Group of Evangelical Youth in the GDR. In the meantime Gutsch had already gained broad ecumenical experience, so that in 1967 he was sent as a youth delegate to the 5th General Assembly of the Conference of European Churches (KEK) in Pörtschach (Austria). Another important date in his life was the founding of the Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe (EYCE) in 1968 , in which he played a major role. He also became a member of its executive committee from the start . From 1969 to 1975 he acted as chairman of the International Youth Commission of the CFK and since 1975 as its international secretary. In the church sector, he was head of the Ecumenical Youth Service of the Commission for Church Youth Work of the Federation of Evangelical Churches in the GDR since 1971 . In 1968 he founded the Christian Youth Working Group in the GDR and became a member of the Ecumenical Youth Council in the GDR. From 1972 to 1978 he was the elected chairman of the Ecumenical Youth Council in Europe. During this time the 7th general assembly of the KEK took place in Engelberg / Switzerland, at which he represented the ÖJR of the GDR.

A Dutch friend of Gutsch's, Lodewijk Blok, wrote:

“ Getting to know Dietrich Gutsch's personality and work was refreshing and inspiring. We got to know in a powerful way the view that the Christian faith is not tied to a certain political society. In the heat of the Cold War, that was a striking, almost revolutionary point of view. It turned out to be a fruitful but also a sensitive starting point.

From Dietrich we learned to relate to the biblical message in a direct way in sober faith. Social and political questions were not left out of sight. It wasn't always easy. Dietrich and others wanted to keep in touch with Christians from West Germany and other European countries. And in this they wanted to be taken seriously.

We were introduced to terms like ' pro-existence ' and 'seek the best of the city'. I was particularly impressed by the last term. In the ' Babylonian Exile ' (587-538) a part of the Israelite people received the order (Jeremiah 29): Build houses and settle, plant gardens and eat their fruit ... multiply there .... and ask about the peace of the City, where I had you kidnapped, pray to me for it, because in its peace you will be at peace. "

Gutsch was married and the father of three sons.

He worked as IM Dietrich for the Ministry for State Security .

Works

  • Wolf-Dietrich Gutsch: Youth have the answer. The article appeared in "Mut zur Zukunft" by Arndt / Trautmann ed. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, Berlin 1964, page 222 ff. Reprinted in "Christ and Church in the GDR", Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Evangelischen Jugend in Deutschlands 2. Edition 1968, page 164 ff .

Wolf-Dietrich Gutsch gave numerous lectures, meditations and Bible studies , published in ecumenical journals.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Order, Carl : In memory of Pastor Gutsch , in: Neue Zeit newspaper , March 14, 1981, p. 5
  2. ↑ http://gaebler.info/oekumene/gutsch-2.htm#blok
  3. ↑ Clemens Vollnhals: The Church Policy of the SED and State Security: an interim balance sheet, Berlin: Ch. Links Verlag 1996, p. 115 ISBN 3-86153-122-4
  4. ↑ cf. also Gerhard Lindemann : "Sourdough in the circle of all-Christian ecumenism": The relationship between the Christian Peace Conference and the Ecumenical Council of Churches. In: Gerhard Besier; Armin Boyens; Gerhard Lindemann: National Protestantism and Ecumenical Movement. Church Action in the Cold War (1945-1990). Berlin: Duncker & Humblot 1999, pp. 653-932 ISBN 978-3-428-10032-3 , pp. 839f.
  5. ↑ It is noticeable that neither in the curriculum vitae nor in the article name and period are given as to when and where Wolf-Dietrich Gutsch was ordained and in which parishes he worked as a pastor. Sources must be proven.
  6. ↑ http://gaebler.info/oekumene/gutsch-2.htm#gutsch-1
personal data
SURNAME Gutsch, Wolf-Dietrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theologian, Evangelical Lutheran catechist and youth worker
DATE OF BIRTH September 7, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH March 7, 1981
Place of death Berlin