Welcome to EMW!

The Association of Protestant Churches and Missions in Germany

Pentecost Greetings

Dear sisters and brothers,

Warm greetings from EMW in Hamburg! We deeply hope that you, your families and friends and your colleagues are doing well and that you are able to cope with the challenges of the Covid 19 pandemic. We have heard and read how many of you are directly affected by the restrictions imposed and how you are struggling to find ways of continuing to serve and to fulfill your calling. In EMW we are thanks to God fine so far and able to pursue our tasks, some of us from home, others from the office.

We are going to celebrate Pentecost in a few days and you should know that you will be in our thoughts and prayers. Churches worldwide are giv-ing thanks and praise to the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit, which allows us to form fellowship, staying connected despite long distance and to overcome boundaries of language and culture. May God give us the strength, the creativity and love to work for peace, justice and the integrity of creation in church and society.

In Germany church buildings have been re-opened recently for services which are possible on a small scale within the frame of Covid 19 re-strictions. Let us continue to pray for an end of the pandemic, for comfort for those who have lost beloved ones and for all those who are saving lives in hospitals and nursing-homes.

We are looking forward to further news from you. Please stay in touch with us.

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Thought for Easter

Cast off all fear, Zions’s daughter. Look, it is your king, who is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt. (John 12.15)

Dear sisters and brothers, friends and partners,
I am writing this letter to you on Palm-Sunday. On this Sunday we remem-ber the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. In many churches and places it is a tradition to celebrate the service with a procession and with palm-branches in our hands in order to greet the Prince of Peace.
Church buildings in Germany are locked and no church-bells are inviting us to join the services on Sunday. Due to the Corona-crisis we are all obliged to stay at home. Services, however, are offered via radio transmission, on tv or online. This is a very strange situation for all of us.
However, we still can celebrate. We are free to sing and pray for others and we can still send greetings and wishes of well-being to our loved ones, to sisters and brothers around the globe.
I wish to thank you very much for your e-mails and reports from the places, where you are living and working, and for your prayers and good wishes. We, the EMW-staff in Hamburg are overwhelmed and grateful for your sup-port. All of us are sending greetings!
The high numbers of infected persons and the rising number of those who lost their lives in so many countries are heartbreaking and alarming at the same time. We are so grateful for doctors and nurses, scientists, politicians
and all those who help us to live through these weeks in safety and hope. We are equally thankful for all church members who assist others in many ways and share words of hope and compassion.
In a few days – on Easter-Sunday - we will listen to the good news that Christ has risen. We are reminded that God has overcome the shadows of suffering and death. Let us respond by saying: he has risen, indeed.
In the midst of the actual crisis and challenged in so many different situa-tions in our churches and nations, we greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and wish you peace and strength!
Let us stay in contact over the upcoming weeks and months and support each other.
Yours in Christ’s Service
Rainer Kiefer

Corona Virus: Measures taken by EMW

In these days we are listening carefully to advices and restrictions ordered by our city and state-authorities and recommendations of our member bodies in Germany. Right now we are advised to minimize all social contacts and time spent in public. Therefore, on behalf of all my colleagues at EMW, I would like to inform you that the majority of us are working from home and we are fine!

We still try to keep the head-office in Hamburg running; however, the situation here changes day by day.

Most of us are still available via e-mail and the communication can be continued. Under the condition of working from home, please use by priority the following address for your partner in dialogue in EMW offices: .

Do not hesitate to ask for a confirmation to make sure that your mail has reached the addressed person or copy your mail to a second person in the team. If the need arises for a call, ask for guidance how to organize.

Visits and travels are no option, but we assure you that we have put in place other ways for discussion and decision making.

As far as we can see, expected payments to project partners have been finalized until the end of April. Please contact us if further questions will arise or you wish to.

We will contact our project partners in case the situation in Hamburg and in the entire country will force us to new measures. And we ask our partners to keep us also informed about any serious issues on their side.

Rainer Kiefer
Director

Please find general information on our vision, our principles and work contexts. If you miss details and need further clarification please don't hesitate to contact us via email . We will try to answer your questions as soon as possible.

EMW and Partners

A 40 Years' Journey in Ecumenical Mission

On the occasion of its 40th anniversary EMW passed in review the ecumenical journey with a thankful heart. Simultaneously EMW was seeking orientation to face the challenges ahead posed by the changing landscape of Christianity worldwide. The partners were asked to share their experiences while working with EMW. Likewise, they shared their hopes and expectations for the continuation of the working relationship.

The EMW was very grateful for the enlightening input.Therefore, it was decided to make those articles the core of this publication. Further texts were integrated on the history of EMW and its structure, as well as information on its work in process. Members and partners are introducing themselves.

But, collecting those elements took longer than anticipated. May be thas was a recurrence of 1977, when it was two years after EMW’s constitution was decided on that the actual work was started. Granting an insight into EMW’s present tasks, this book offers a glimpse into future challenges on the pilgrimage of ecumenism and mission.

You can download the complete book (or individual chapters) as PDF.

0 | Content
The table of contents of the book

1 | EMW at a Glance and Introduction
For the hurried reader here we briefly introduce the EMW and its areas of work.

2 | The EMW – History and Work
In this chapter the EMW, its history and its core work are described from the perspective of those, who are responsible at present for the work. Also represented here are the Academy of Mission in Hamburg and Bread for the World, two organisations especially important for EMW’s joint work in Germany.

3 | The Anniversary Celebrations
This chapter contains chosen contributions from the two anniversary celebrations of June 18/19 2015, in Hamburg and the EMW General Assembly of 23rd to 25th September 2015, in Herrnhut.

4 | Global. Continental and National Partners
A few months before its anniversary, EMW asked partner organisations to briefly present their work and to describe the experiences with and the insights of working with EMW. It was also asked whether and how this cooperation can be improved in the future. Due to the large number of responses from the partners, we present a representative selection in this volume.

5 | Voices of Companions in the Ecumenical Journey
This chapter contains a selection of voices from friends in the ecumenical world, who have accompanied the EMW the during various stages of its development.

6 | Overview of EMW partners
This chapter gives a systematic overview of EMW’s partners over the last six years. We had to limit ourselves to this short period of time, otherwise the list would have become too extensive.

7 | EMW Members and Associate Members
This chapter shows the EMW as the umbrella organisation for churches, mission agencies and missionary organisations. The member organisations present themselves in their own words. Associate Partners only cooperate in certain areas with the EMW and are not full members of the EMW.

The complete Jubilee Book as PDF (3MB): Download