Bishop Martyn was recently invited to speak at a conference on “intercultural churches” in Bonn, Germany. The conference included people from the Diocese in Europe (part of the Church of England) and the Episcopal Church in Europe (part of the USA Episcopal Church).
Anglican churches in Germany have undergone big changes in recent years. Founded primarily as “ex-pat” churches for English speakers, they are now hugely diverse with people from around the world choosing to worship together - many are not Anglicans but nevertheless choose a church which is diverse and where hospitality is core to their vision.
Alongside exploring some of themes of his book, An Intercultural Church for a Multicultural Church (co-written with Bishop Saju and Jessie Tang among others), Bishop Martyn also explored some of the similarities and differences between the UK and continental context e.g. different approaches to integration and living well together, and different approaches to mission - Anglican churches in Germany often meet in church buildings belonging to other denominations and are therefore very conscious of being “guests” rather than “hosts”.
In addition, these churches are self-funding (each church pays for its own vicar and their accommodation). And because they are spread across the whole country, they have to work hard at supporting one another and countering the sense of isolation that clergy and congregations can feel.
Bishop Martyn commented: “It was an enormous privilege to spend time with these church leaders and learn from them. Churches across Europe are facing many of the same joys and challenges, but the differences in our history and context also enable us to learn from one another in a very enriching way. I hope we can bring more of this learning to Leicester in the years to come.”
Pictured here is Bishop Martyn with Revd Vinod Victor, who works at the Anglican Church in Freiburg.