Administrator/Member of Community Church Plant Team
- Type:
- Long term
- Location:
- Schwerin, Germany
- Duration:
- 5 years or more
Our dream is to have a Christian community, which is attractive, understandable and relevant to the people who live in our neighbourhood. This includes the socially marginalised and those with a migrant background. We want the love of Christ to bring hope, change, integration and growth in an area chracterised by resignation, passivity and decline.
We are a multicultural team of four families (German, Dutch, Belarussian, Arabic) serving with the Freie evangelische Gemeinde in Norddeutschland (FeGN). We live and serve in a working class neighbourhood with many tower blocks, known as the 'Dreesch'. We're also connected to the local FeG in the centre of Schwerin. As one of the families is preparing to leave, we are looking for new missionaries (singles, a couple or a family) to join the team. We particularly need help with the administrative work for our 'Patchwork Centre'.
We live in and are committed to our neighbourhood. We share our lives with the people here and serve wherever we can, e.g. in the local ‘Kindertafel’ (which provides warm meals for poor children), playing soccer, doing music with children from the local school etc. Once a month, we organise a family event (‘Plattenpraise’) together with other people in our area, and an open air street festival (‘Kepler Open Air’). As part of our vision to build a Christian community, we have renovated an empty building. We're creating the Patchwork Centre: a community centre with a café, workshop and music. This centre offers daily fellowship, meaningful occupation (everyone can participate in our activities) and a peaceful atmosphere. In addition, this centre could become the setting for different forms of Christian worship, which reflect the community around it. We see the Patchwork Centre becoming a place of Christian community and Jesus-like transformation.
Opportunity 1: Administrative Worker
Our greatest need is for a team member who will take responsibility for the administration of the Patchwork Centre. You will have experience in bookkeeping and enjoy doing this type of work. You will speak German well and be willing to train local people in administrative tasks. It would be ideal, if you were able to move into our neighbourhood and live among the people you're serving.
Opportunity 2: Church Plant Team Members
We're also looking for wider team members to join our missional community. You'll support and improve the existing ministry by becoming an active member of the Patchwork Centre. You'll serve in the centre's café and/or workshop. If you have practical or creative skills, you will be able to use these in your work. You're welcome to develop new ideas and bring them into our ministry. You will be required to live in our neighbourhood and to learn German, if you don't already speak the language.
The roles above could be assigned to two different individuals or to one person/family with the relevant skills and qualities. Both roles require workers with a servant attitude and a desire to learn. It is possible to serve in either of these roles as a bi-vocational worker; if you're able to find an appropriate job in the local area, you could devote your free time to these missional activities.
