By Helen Goodman and the Revd Diane Ryan
Our long and joyful link with the Nordkirche—the Lutheran Church of Northern Germany—was renewed once again during a recent visit to Hamburg. The Nordkirche covers a huge area from Hamburg up to Lübeck and all the way east to the Polish border. One of our favourite shared traditions is attending each other’s ordination services. After hosting our German friends in Durham over the summer, it was our turn to visit them.
The ordinations took place at All Saints, where five women and one man were ordained as pastors. The whole service was bursting with optimism and energy, with children running happily around and a really warm, celebratory atmosphere. Bishop Kirsten Fehrs (the woman wearing the cross in the photo) preached on the parable of the sower. She reminded the new pastors that while planting seeds takes hard work, they must also allow God to work in His own time. “Happy is the person who understands the art of letting go,” she said. “Grass doesn’t grow faster if you pull on it.” It was a beautifully encouraging message.
After the service, we enjoyed tea together and passed on greetings from our own newly ordained deacons from last summer, who sent their message of “joy, love and fruitfulness!” As always in Hamburg, the organ music was outstanding—they have a rich musical tradition dating back to the 1700s.
The service took place in St Jacobi Cathedral, which had to be rebuilt after the devastating bombing of Hamburg in 1943. A firestorm swept through the city in less than a week, taking 35,000 lives. The history is movingly explained in the crypt museum of St Nikolai, another church left in ruins and kept as a memorial. Today, Hamburg is a vibrant and impressive city once again. Its vast working port stretches for miles, complete with shipbuilding, and the art gallery is well worth a visit. The golden fourteenth-century altar in the ordination photo is one of their treasures.
We also met parishioners from the Eilbek parish, including a lovely elderly woman who had been just six years old during the bombing. She was overjoyed by the friendship and reconciliation between our countries. Revd Diane and Pastor Zanda Ohff also began planning themes for future visits so we can keep learning from each other.
If you’d like to be involved in future exchanges—or even host visitors from Hamburg—you’ll find it a truly rewarding experience!
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Photo caption: Ordinations took place at All Saints, where five women and one man were ordained as pastors