Visit of Archdeacon Walter Baer in April 2025:
Archdeacon Walter Baer visited us on Sunday 6th April. And during a light lunch he talked with members of the previous and current Bishop’s committee (in particular: Senior Warden Alice Bartusch, Junior Warden Suhas Sugandhy, Member Heri Kilamile, Treasurer Tobias Hamberger, Secretary Dagmar Hamberger, and Vicar Dr. Lutz Ackermann). In the afternood he held an Eucharist service with the whole congregation.
Lessons and Carols 2024 – Making of / „Baking of“:
Just in time for the 1st Advent, church activities in our parish started. They began with our joint baking event for the sale of our biscuits for the „Lessons & Carols“ service. Special mention must be made of our children, who helped diligently. They also showed great creativity in decorating the baked goods:
For me, singing Christmas carols is always a highlight of the „Lessons & Carols“. They emphasise the Bible passages read out with verve. These start with the beginning of the world, continue with the proclamation of a coming Messiah and end with the birth of Jesus Christ.
The service is always followed by a cosy get-together with cake, tea and punch. Here, our Christmas biscuits as well as real English orange marmalade was sold.
More fun to strengthen our parish – community meeting October 20th, 2024
We started our second community meeting with a prayer for the spiritual growth of our parish: „May each member be supported and encouraged on their individual spiritual journeys. Help us to embrace diversity, celebrate unique paths, and create a safe space for exploration, questioning, and deepening our connection with the divine.“
It was a fruitful meeting with lots of good ideas. Our aim is still to continue to grow our community. This remains a difficult endeavour, but we will keep at it. Looking back at the innovations we initiated last year, we were unable to register any new members. But at least the earlier start of our church service is an advantage for existing members. Especially in the dark wintertime.
Since the lockdown and the introduction of broadcasting church services via Zoom, personal contact with each other has a bit reduced unfortunately. Bevor COVID, we used to meet regularly at our coffee hours after the service. Due to the small number of people present in person, these rarely take place nowadays. On the other hand, the transmission via Zoom helps us to enable members who are unable to travel to church to take part in the service.
One of the suggestions to strengthen the community in meeting in person were more „fun activities“. Suggested were every second month on a Saturday for example:
– a games afternoon
– baking or cooking together
– a garden party with book exchange
– watching English in english
– painting together
– organizing a potluck
Alice got straight down to business and suggested a joint baking event for Saturday November 30th. Hopefully with many children who will afterwards enjoy selling their Christmas biscuits at our „Lessons and Carols“ bazaar at Dezember 8th.
The desire for better visibility through advertising was also initiated. To do so, flyers should be put up in the display case of our host church, the „Evangelische Auferstehungskirche“. The university and the „Unicum“, a student pub on the Augsburg campus, were suggested as further locations for posters. Word of mouth and spreading the word about our activities via the social media channels of our parishioners is important as well.
We are considering entering into new partnerships with other communities. Especially as the Episcopalian Anglican Church has recently entered into close communion with the Lutheran Church in Bavaria. As this idea cannot be realised quickly, it is being pursued by the Bishops Committee and Reverend Ackermann.
Wild Church at 27 Oct 2024:
A our pastor was on vacation, we just offered an Online Evening Prayer and invited members to join for this Sunday a Wild Church service which happens in Augsburg on a monthly base , organized by the Mennonites. Tobias Hamberger gave an impulse there with a meditation taken from the „Micha-Sonntag“-liturgy offered by Micha Deutschland e.V.
Here are some autumn impressions from the Wertach, where this event happened:
Joy to the world! – Lessens and Carols at 17 Dec 2023:
During the hectic pre-Christmas period, St. Boniface came together for the annual „Festival of Lessons and Carols“. The service featured Christmas carols as well as the Christmas story. We all sang from the heart. Some caught the note a little better than others. As you can hear in this short video „Silent Night“.
After the service, we had children’s punch and cake. There was also a sales stand for our Uganda aid organization with real English marmelade and British cookies.
„Let’s grow!“ – Community meeting at 12 Nov 2023:
It’s no secret that we want to grow as a church community. However, in order to welcome others, we first need to feel comfortable ourselves. It’s not for nothing that Jesus told us: „‚Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.“ (Mark 12:31). Over the years and especially due to the hybrid transmission of church services since COVID, many things have changed. Some changes are helpful, others need to be questioned.
Instead of a regular service, the Bishop’s Committee invited the congregation to a joint discussion on Sunday, November 12. After a prayer and a meditation, the questions were addressed in a completely relaxed manner:
1.) Why did you feel welcome at St. Boniface when you first came here?
2) What don’t you like?
3) Are there any specific changes you would like to see?
Our „think tank“, as such a meeting is called these days, came up with a variety of ideas. It quickly became clear why we all felt comfortable: because of the nice people and the English language! But there were also requests for changes, for example, we considered whether the service should be moved to a different time.
The Bishop’s Committee and the vicar will now deal with the results in the following meetings. It will certainly not be possible to implement everything immediately. Especially as not all parishioners were be able to come for various reasons. We try to reach them personally for feedback.
One of the photos shows our board with the ideas. If you are interested, you can read which points were included. We like to thank everyone who was able to come to the community meeting as Well AS those who submit their feedback later. Personally, I found our „think tank“ very productive.
Bible Walk at August 13:
That is, how it was announced:
And those brave people came:
And here is the report from Sarah Gandorfer:
For those who were not there yesterday, a very brief summary: Because the weather always looked like thunderstorms, we only walked around the Stempflesee. There were six stops where parts of Psalm 104 were read. In addition there was either a short prayer, a meditation or a thought. Among other things, I found the following song on which the Psalm is set to music in Hebrew. After all, the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder remarked, „It is worth studying the Hebrew language for ten years in order to read Psalm 104 in the original“:
If you feel like it, read Psalm 104 and then sit in nature. Perhaps you would like to do our final meditation:
Take a moment to look around you and observe the beauty of nature. Perhaps you see the vibrant colors of flowers, the majesty of mountains, or the vastness of the sky. As you take in these sights, let them remind you of the power and creativity of God, who made all things. Allow yourself to feel a sense of awe and gratitude for the gift of nature and the opportunity to experience it.
Now, consider how nature reflects God’s character. Just as the diversity and complexity of nature demonstrate God’s creativity, so do its beauty and order point to his goodness and care. As you think about this connection, you might ask yourself, „How can I better appreciate and care for nature as a reflection of God’s character?“
Take a few moments to thank God for the gift of nature and pray for more opportunities to experience and honor his handiwork.
Church BBQ 24 July & Men’s Group 28 July:
New and old Friends, some from near, aome from far away, met for Church BBQ at Sunday 24:
And also the Men’s Group had at July 28 a small revival:
A Pentecost Service picture from COVID time (2021):
