Kirchentag’09 A celebratory gathering – impressive, informative and affirming

If you were impressed by the numbers at the Church Without Walls National Gathering at Ingliston last month, you’ll be blown away by the Kirchentag experience.

Over 100 000 Christians, young and old, from all over Germany and some 5000 international visitors virtually take over a German city every two years for worship, fellowship, Bible Study, drama, music, dance, discussions, keynote speakers, including senior political and religious figures from Germany and the rest of the world, in 2007 included Desmond Tutu, Sam Kobia and Kathy Galloway. In the intervening years an equivalent number of folk attend the Katholikentag, and a new development is to have ecumenical gatherings every 7 years, with the next of these being scheduled for May 2010 in Munich.

Don’t be put off if you know little or no German, lots happens in English, and music and dance are internationally understood. Whether you go as part of a group or on your own, you can be assured of a fantastic time.

The next Kirchentag takes place from 20 to 24 May 2009 in Bremen, with an overall theme based on “Mortal, where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)
You can find details of this (in English) here
You can also download the English language flyer as a pdf file from here 
The British committee has a website, and the British organiser is Robin Blount, 01303 250028
The Scottish Coordinator is John Lindsay, contact John. 

If you want to read about previous Kirchentag experiences you can read British participants’ reflections here, here (by ACTS General Secretary Stephen Smyth) and here.