On Being the Church Today

Meaningful and relevant ways of being the church today is being discussed globally and one of the keys is to ensure that the fragrance of Christ is evident in the places you are in. The basic elements of being a church includes the worship, the fellowship, the witness, the seeking for justice and unity and also serving the last, the least and the lost. In Matthew 25:40-45 Jesus made it clear- the little you do to the least of these, you do it unto me. In James 2:17 we are reminded- faith without action is less effective.

Fragrance in Freiburg is a project that evolved out of the genuine desire of our community to reach out to those in the peripheries, especially the refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and those struggling to make a living in a new context into which they chose to come or were compelled to come. While it was clear that we not duplicating the good work already done in this regard we still wanted to transform our community into a more welcoming, inviting and caring and compassionate community radiating the grace of God.

Our Strengths

We decided to draw on five of our strengths as a community and draw up a proposal around those. These were Hospitality, Young people, Diverse Expertise, Academic excellence and the heart to help.

The Initial Grant

The Welcome Grant of the Episcopal church which was offered through the CAECG was the channel we chose, and we were able to complete a successful project proposal and an initial grant of Euros 15.000,00 is already allocated to us.

The Goals

1. The primary goal of the project is to make ACF a more sensitive, active, engaging,
2. meaningful and fragrant community that makes its presence felt in the public square in Freiburg particularly in the care for people in the margins of life including refugees and asylum seekers
3. To engage the youth of ACF to reach out to the mental, spiritual, social and physical needs of their peers who are from marginalized backgrounds in Freiburg including from refugee and marginalized communities
4. To organize meaningful programs that would help the marginalized communities to address some of the key challenges they face in the new context and to help them integrate to the social fabric better
5. To do genuine academic studies on the specific needs and aspirations of the
6. diaspora communities with special focus on people who are not able to worship and live their lives in their heart languages.
7. To provide material assistance as is possible to the people in need specially from the marginalized communities.

The Five Streams and the Program Envisaged

Stream 1- Hospitality

Hospitality

Welcoming, Inviting and Integrating is the key to any meaningful interaction with the marginalized communities. One of the strengths in ACF is Hospitality. All that is needed is to be more welcoming and intentionally inviting. Inviting people to the Breakfast fellowships, hikes,  dinner evenings,  chill out sessions,  home groups,  youth and young adults events,  shared lunches and organizing regular and special events reaching to people who would appreciate hospitality. Hospitality should be broadly redefined as sharing God’s love with the last, the least and the lost.

Focus

Welcoming and Inviting Strangers and those pushed to the margins into the already existing culture of hospitality and organising specific events for refugees, migrants, asylum seekers and the culturally diverse communities would be the focus.

Action Plan

Breakfast Gatherings- Welcoming and Inviting- All our existing small groups to think of intentionally inviting people from the peripheries into at least one forth coming session

Mother’s Cake and Coffee with Child Care Arranged to be particularly organized for struggling women to find a space of safe sharing

Wise Ones Wine and Cheese Evenings with the elderly could have one event focusing on the elderly of the marginalized communities

Sharing our Dining Tables- Encouraging our families to be more open to strangers

Open Home Groups- Arrange one special session in each home group inviting strangers to be part of the discussions

Open up Shared Meal opportunities to people from the peripheries

Youth Evenings around a Meal- Organise youth and young adult hospitality events.

Organizing special events of hospitality offering a welcoming space. Several organizations are already working in this area and we will collaborate with a few of them. We have already decided to have a soup kitchen in September with the Old Catholics and the Methodists.

Aim

Organize Ten Hospitality Events during the Project first Phase

Stream 2- Creativity

Creativity

ACF has a great repository of children, youth and young adults who would best understand the heart-throb of their friends in need. ACF needs to equip them to creatively offer entertainment and recreational opportunities for their friends to allow them to relax and enjoy life more calmly amidst all the turbulence. This would be a good way of engaging younger generations and helping them reach out to and integrate with those in the edges. Opportunities to sing together in a band or an orchestra, to play together, dance together, camp together, travel together or any such creative initiative based on their interest can be provided. Being a balm to the turbulent soul and disturbed mind can reap unparalleled dividends.

We need to focus on youth and young adults in the vulnerable communities and challenge our youngsters to meaningfully interact and integrate with them. The aim is to facilitate our young community to be missional make life of youngsters of marginal communal more meaningful.

Program Plan

We would ideally listen to young voices and incorporate their suggestions in the implementation plan. However, what is initially envisaged here include

• Chill Out Evenings with Guided De-stressing
• Singing Together/ Dancing Together/ Camping Together/ Playing Together/ Travelling Together
• Creative Evenings- Painting/ Story Writing/ Poetry/ Photography
• Publishing Creativity
• Sports/ Games
• Digital Creative Possibilities
• Guided tours to museums and other special cultural spaces and events

Aim

Organize eight events for young people during the program phase

Stream 3- Counselling/ Practical guidance for integration

Counselling

There are several people in the ACF community who are engaged in the health sector, education sector and in the direct and indirect work among migrants, refugees and those in varied manifestations of modern-day slavery. That would mean ACF partly has the expertise to organize individual and collective sessions in various aspects of counselling to people in need or to support those who are already doing it. This collaborative effort can be very productive if properly coordinated. The modern day understanding of counselling branches out to several areas of possible involvement in the lives of communities in need.

Events on several crucial existential concerns of people in the margins can be organised with the expertise that we have within our communities and with other ecumenical and secular organisations already working in this area. We will form an expert group of people in our community who are engaged in this work already by passion and by profession and have a team set for this

Program

English Language talks around a relaxed evening organised on key themes with resource persons where needed and in collaboration where possible. The themes could include

• How does the education system work in Germany- Schools/ Universities
• The Job scene in the city
• Tax and Financial Planning
• Ausländerbehörde
• Where and how can you best learn German
• Third culture kids
• Housing in Freiburg
• Culture in Freiburg
• Insurance and Health Care
• Support for mothers without family support

Aim

Organize six integration sessions with counselling on crucial topics that concern the life and integration of the marginalized communities. We have budgeted separately to pay for expert resource personnel wherever needed.

Stream 4- Academic

Academic

ACF has in its rolls several people who are part of the research and academic community. We could use that expertise to initiate studies and research on the life situations and needs of people in the peripheries and propose long term solutions to several of the issues that are being faced today. There could also be academic support provided to people who engaged in the same.

Publications, Posters and Publicity Material advocating for causes of Justice must also be seen as an integral part of this initiative.

Our academic strength could be channeled to a specific study for instance on the spiritual needs of diaspora communities. We could do advocacy and publicity to crucial justice terms.

Program

• Study and Research on the various facets of the life of refugees and migrants
• Looking at long term strategic plans to address issues of migration
• Study on the Spirituality of Diaspora communities
• Research papers and publications on crucial themes
• Posters and Publicity materials advocating causes of justice

Aim

Initiate one research publication, one creative publication, one theological reflection and a series of posters and digital campaign aids for human dignity.

Stream 5- Acts of Kindness.

Acts of Kindness

What people need when they are hungry is food, when they are thirsty is water, when they are sparsely clothed is clothes, when they are homeless is a place to stay, when they are sick or in prison is a visit and Jesus says- anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me.” Acts of kindness must not be seen as charity but as the right of the other to live in dignity. Understanding the dignity of all as our responsibility is in fact the essence of being the fragrance.

Program

Reaching out with material support to the people who are struggling would be the focus.

The Strategy

Engaging the Community: We must encourage every member of our community to own this initiative as OUR OWN and participate in whatever way possible.

Reaching out to our own young people and through them their friends- We have a rich repository of smart youngsters and they should own this initiative and given the freedom to do things their way.

Draw in the Neighbours- Several initiatives can be done in partnership. Initial discussion has happened among the ministers of Petrus-Paulus, Old Catholics and the Methodists and everyone is happy to join hands

Collaborating with people already engaged- ACF has always been supportive of organisations engaged in this crucial area of justice and care. We will continue our collaboration and this will also address the issue of external giving that we were constrained to hold.

Develop an Ecumenical Strategy inviting other churches- We should be able to share the expertise available with ecumenical partners and formulate an ecumenical strategy of engagement with a long term impact

Look forward for a Regional plan for Baden Württemberg working together with other Anglican and Episcopalian churches in the region extending even to Basel.

Office and Project Administration

This could be an opportunity for us both to save and to invest on crucial office set up that is required to run events like this in the future. We have also envisaged project operative costs to cover expenses like internet, stationary, printing, postage, travel and other related expenses.

Sustainability Plan

The strength of the initiative is that we can continue with most of these initiatives even at a time when the external support ceases and in the long run when ACF becomes self supportive our outward giving can be focused on sustaining these events. Alternate funding might also be possible to sustain and these and similar meaningful initiatives

The Most Important Question: Who Will Do What, When and Where

Before we finalise the roll out an opportunity is being provided to every member of ACF to sign in to organise one event or more among the program envisaged. Please get in touch with the Council members or the Chaplain if you can consider taking the lead in organizing one or more events.

The Activity Grid

The Activity Grid and Timeline chart will be finalized after consultation with all stake-holders across the next few days

Activity	The Activity Envisaged	Time-line of the activity and Type of Activity	Person who agrees to be in charge	General Remarks
Hospitality	Event 1 Event 2 Event 3 Event 4 Event 5 Event 6 Event 7 Event 8 Event 9 Event 10
Creativity/ Youth activities	Event 1 Event 2 Event 3 Event 4 Event 5 Event 6 Event 7 Event 8
Counselling/ Integration Support	Event 1 Event 2 Event 3 Event 4 Event 5 Event 6
Academic Initiatives	Event 1 Event 2 Event 3 Event 4 Event 5 Event 6
Support to the Needy
Ecumenical Hub Activities
Operative/ Admin matters
Monitoring/ Evaluation matters
Reporting and attending team meetings

Conclusion

Each of us is called to brighten the corners we are in and this is in one initiative that would help us shine forth in the darkness of the lives of people and to spread the fragrance of Christ. It should be everybody’s responsibility and therefore everyone should be participants in this initiative. TOGETHER WE CAN, GOD BEING OUR HELPER

Vinod Victor

01.06.2024