Partnership service in Wallau: Celebrate the faith together!

Partnership service in Wallau: Celebrate the faith together!

Wallau, Deutschland - On June 26, 2025, there is an important partnership service in the Evangelical Church in Wallau, which deals with the central topic of "water". The service begins at 10 a.m. and is aimed at everyone interested who want to get involved in partnership work. The aim is to celebrate the faith in the Tanzania partnerships together. A specially developed liturgy is used, which will be available to the participants both in Wallau and in Tanzania. The same Bible words are used here to establish a connection between the municipalities. The community teacher Marion Schmidt-Biber, who is responsible for ecumenism and partnerships in the dean's office, will lead the event. This reports Mittelhessen.

The partnership community between German communities and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania (ELCT) has existed for over 30 years. These long -lasting relationships are not only the result of political and social developments, but also the growing friendship and mutual exchange. The use is in different formats, including community and project partnerships. The focus is on personal contact through the exchange of delegations and the posting of specialists and volunteers. The partnership department supports these efforts and contributes to the qualification of those involved. In this context, the partner network contributes to education, health care and women's promotion in Tanzania. This is presented in detail on the website of the ecumene center.

common challenges and learning fields

Partnership work promotes the togetherness of Christians as a global community by taking place directly in the municipalities and at the level of the regional church at different levels. The cooperation focuses in particular on four main areas: mission, education and training, health care and women's support. There are already concrete projects in the Arusha region and south of Tanzanias that meet these requirements.

The origins of partnership work go back to the time of the mission work before the GDR was founded. The Lutheran Church in Tanzania was created in the late 19th century through the activities of the Berlin and Leipzig missionaries. Even after the foundation of the GDR in 1949 and the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the contacts remained. In the 1970s, these were deliberately intensified again, which ultimately led to a fundamental decision by the Union's Evangelical Church to promote and support partnerships with the Lutheran church in southern Tanzania.

Thanks to the commitment of the Leipzig Mission (LMW), partnership work could continue to be strengthened and further developed. The LMW has taken responsibility for partnership work in various church circles and continues to develop the densely woven network of relationships with municipalities, institutions and dioceses in Tanzania. In this context, the formation of Tanzania working groups is also important because it connects and advised the regional bishops. The partnership between the municipalities remains both an integral part of church work and an expression of lived ecumenism.