“We have been in the process of putting the church on the road for a very long time, with many parishes supporting each other. What happens on the site in the steeple is essential. The restructuring and collaboration of the parish spaces is also the goal of strengthening pastoral care through new work.” This was confirmed by the ecclesiastical Christoph Warmut at the festive Vespers of the construction of the parish hall “Haberg Ost” in the Church of St. Magdalena in Ebelsbach.

By decree of Bishop Franz Jung, 600 parishes in the Diocese of Würzburg have been divided into 43 “pastoral rooms” (PR) since October 1, 2021. In the district of Haberg, three parish spaces have been formed with “Haberg South”, “Haberg West” and “Haberg East”, and this was preceded by the formation of “Parish Communities” (PG). “Haberge East” is now grouped into four parish communities: “Gemeinsam Weg” (Ebern) with seven parishes (KG), “Maintal-Holy Lnder” (Kirchlauter) with eight KG, “St. Killian and his companions” (Pvarwesach) with ten kilos Saint Christopher” (Bonach), weighing 13 kg.

The parish community spans two areas

These were pastoral societies. Peter Grokopf pointed out the special feature of PG St. Christophorus Baunach, which spans two regions and even actually more than two government regions. “Some of the pastors have already said that we would like to come to you, because we are so far from Würzburg.” The pastoral community covers an area of ​​70 square kilometers and approximately 10,000 people have a connection to Christianity. Ten years ago there were exactly 7,702 Catholics, but today there are even fewer. “The most beautiful church is in everyone’s place; we deal with extraordinary encounters and think about how to bring faith to the people.”

Ralph Nowack went on to date St. Killian and his companions at Pfarrweisach, which was formed long ago by the Salesian order and where there was no shortage of priests thanks to the alternating system of priests. But now this has been abandoned and it is hoped that Reverend Teller of Ebern will be able to stay for a long time.

For PG “On the Road Together” Ebern/Jesserndorf, Andrea Bauer noted that the parishes of Ebern and Jesserndorf have been working together with the chapters of Bramberg, Hofstetten, Unterpreppach, Reutersbrunn and Vorbach since 2004. A coordinating committee has been set up for this purpose working in a systematic way good. In future work one can build on committed Christians.

Magdalenenchor has framed the official Vespers

Claudia Renwand presented PG “Maintal-Holy Lender”, which is divided into parishes in the Maintal and in The Holy Lender. “We want to shape the future and motivate people to return to worship. There has to be room in the heart for faith and we want to ensure that faith and community are maintained at the site.”

Vespers was framed musically by Magdalenenchor Ebelsbach under the direction of Doris Wasser as well as Florian Mayer (Organ) and Sebastian Hensiek (trumpet) and the faithful at the beginning of the song agreed on a “house full of great looks”.

In his ‘homily’ and his interpretation of the text, cathedral canon Christoph Wormot noted that the song indicates that one’s foot is on the ground and that a storm cannot damage this house. “But the last few years speak a different language. The Church has lost its credibility and authority. It is in crisis and there are many reasons for that. It has to do with the crisis in modern society as well as with the structures within the Church. Despite everything, the calling and defiance of the Church remains a sign of salvation in the world , where the living closeness to God and the liberating effect of salvation remain visible.”

“Everyone is invited to find their place”

Churches also require thinking outside one’s selfish box. “The most important task of the church today is to give people a space in which every human being can remain human or perhaps become human first. Especially with the rapid personalization of our times, the church can be the place where people can find their identity and others can find it.”

The prerequisite for this is that the church does not give the impression that it is asking only of people. “The essential church gesture is not the raised index finger, but the outstretched hand that gives and gives. In the church everyone is called to find their place.”

steering group

Subsequently, canon Christoph Wormott offered jobs in the new parish room “Haberg Ost”, also in front of several guests such as district manager Wilhelm Schneider. Reverend Rudolf Teller (Ebern), Reverend Matthias Rossen (Ebelsbach) and Reverend Vincent Moulin Corian (Bauenach) will serve as the congregational chaplain (“Pastor of Solidum”). The pastor of the team acts as coordinator/moderator, and the certificate of appointment was submitted to Reverend Mulan Kurian.

At the same time, a steering group was formed to continue cooperation between parishes, but also to network parish communities and to consider new and good goals. The spokesperson for this group is Ulrike Lebert of PG Baunach-Pfarrweisch and also includes Reverend Rudolf Teller, Reverend Vincent Moulin Kurian and parish officer Matthias Witter. Then all vespers participants received a special “candle” as a sign of their assignment to be “the light of God”.