Bedford-Strohm in Erding: "Many are not aware of what churches achieve"

Created: 01/13/2023, 08:00

By: Friedbert Holz

Living ecumenism: On Thursday morning, the Protestant regional bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm visited the archbishop's Heilig Blut secondary school for girls in Erding.

He had lively conversations about God and the world with the tenth graders and their teachers.

© Peter Bauersachs

High-ranking visitors to the Heilig BLut Archbishop's Realschule for girls in Erding: the Protestant regional bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm discussed with the students.

Erding – "Talking to people is what I enjoy the most." Heinrich Bedford-Strohm was happy to admit that when he met 45 students and some teachers at the Heilig Blut Archbishop's Realschule for girls on Thursday.

The evangelical regional bishop came to Erding at the invitation of religion teacher Alexandra Hamm.

He interpreted his cross-denominational visit quite objectively: “The ecumenical discussion is becoming more and more important.

There is also no such thing as an evangelical Christ.”

The 62-year-old was welcomed with the song "Trumpet Tune", played by the wind group of the MRS Girls under the direction of Martin Hirsch.

Bedford-Strom, who lives in Munich with his family, recalled that the last time he was in Erding was on the anniversary of the Reformation.

In the meantime, the whole world has become his home.

"But my special love is Africa, where I have many personal friends." After all, as chairman of the World Council of Churches, he not only has to take care of seven main religions, but also 4,000 others.

"I grew up with four siblings - in the Allgäu and in Upper Franconia.

Our vacation often consisted of the seven of us traveling to Sweden in a VW Beetle and camping in the forest there," he said.

He only boarded a plane for the first time at the age of 21 - "when I flew to my wife's parents".

She is American.

Above everything he does is his firm belief that a large universal church can be created.

He is also not happy that much of what churches do on a daily basis does not even reach the public's consciousness - "usually it's more the scandals".

Pupils had prepared posters showing which activities the evangelical church primarily operates: the “Bread for the World” campaign and the organization and initiatives of the Diakonie.

There was a lot of astonishment when a schoolgirl asked about the regional bishop's daily routine.

“I get up early, then go to the English Garden to speak my daily password into my cell phone.

This can then be viewed later on social media.” Back home, he prepares the coffee for his wife: “It has to fit perfectly.” Office work, meetings and mountains of post and e-mails take a lot of time, but he likes to go in congregations, where he transforms the messages from the Bible into sermons for modern times.

"It also says there, for example, that people should love their neighbors, but also themselves. Ultimately, I am the way I am - no matter what the scales say." A murmur went through the rows of the tenth graders, in whose age self-optimization is an important issue.

The students also had questions about church asylum, homophobia, help for refugees or Vesper churches where the needy are provided with food.

"As far as asylum and refugees are concerned in general, our society seems to have to cope with a different threshold level than, for example, with neighborly help," said the regional bishop.

"Nevertheless, in the spirit of Jesus Christ, everyone is a human being who needs help." Many of them couldn't do anything about their fate.

"And we end up rescuing someone who crashed into a tree with too much alcohol in their blood."

He himself was attacked some time ago when it came to sea rescue in the Mediterranean.

"But I don't have a problem with opposition from society if I'm convinced of a good cause.

In my experience, it helps here to provide factual information and to discuss with possible dissenters.”

Even clergymen from the Russian Orthodox Church, with whom he has often spoken about the war in Ukraine, "admit behind closed doors that they do not like it at all - but they are never allowed to say so officially".