1. Art and Diseño

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December 2014
MCC EUROPE NETWORK NEWSLETTER
In this issue:
Times of change and transition in the MCC Europe Network
Network Team to be built. Volunteers welcome!
Emerging group in Merate/Milano (Milan, Italy)
R.I.P. Hanjo Feyerke, member of Salz der Erde MCC Stuttgart
Rosa Detlef 2014: Award created by Salz der Erde MCC Stuttgart
Network Gathering 2015
Some network gathering feedback
Make headlines and change history
Rosa Detlef 2014: Award created by Salz der Erde MCC Stuttgart
Already for the 5th time, Salz der Erde MCC did present the community award ”Rosa Detlef“. Every
year, this award is presented to an individual and to a group for special work in and for the
LSBTTIQ community. This year, the award for a group went to GL@D, the LSBTTIQ employees’
network at Daimler (the manufacturer of Mercedes cars).
The award for an individual went to the Minister for Culture, Youth and Sports in Baden
Württemberg, Andreas Stoch. He was honored for his commitment to the new Educational Plan for
Schools in the state of Baden-Württemberg. This plan intends to make diversity visible in schools.
Minister Stoch had been attacked by opponents of this plan, even personally, but did not falter.
The laudation was spoken by Mrs Tülay Schmid, wife of the Vice Prime Minister of BadenWürttemberg.
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Times of transitions and change in the MCC Europe Network
Journey MCC (Birmingham, England) – After completing an appointment as Intentional Interim
Pastor, we are happy to say that Rev. Stephen Bentley was recently elected to be the Settled Pastor.
MCC Firenze (Florence, Italy) – Exciting news from Florence about the emerging ministry that
has just been authorised. It will be lead by Dr Andrea Panerini who will be seeking ordination within
MCC. The group currently has 10 attendees and meets on the third Sunday of every month. Further
information can be gained by contacting Dr Panerini at [email protected]. Please also visit their
facebook page Comunità cristiana ”Agape“ - MCC Firenze or their website www.mccfirenze.org
River of Life MCC (Dorchester, England) – The church celebrated the leaving service for
outgoing Pastor Rev. Catherine Dearlove on 26 October with a service remembering all of the work
she has done not only in the church but in the community as a whole. MCC has appointed Rev. Kevin
Dudman to be the Intentional Interim Pastor, with effect from 30 November and he is relishing the
new challenges. Catherine is still waiting for final word on her religious worker visa application so that
she can move to Florida, where she will serve as the Pastor of Church of Our Savior MCC in Boynton
Beach, Florida.
Living Springs MCC (Bath, England) – The leaving service for Team Pastor Rev. Mia Briggs has
happened on 23 November to celebrate all her hard work with the church. The leaving service for
outgoing Pastor Rev. Kieren Bourne will be on 21 December celebrating his spiritual leadership of the
church.
MCC Torbay (Torquay, England) – The church had celebrated the leadership of Rev. Kevin
Dudman on 16 November in a farewell service as he moved to his new post at River of Life in
Dorchester and Rev. Mia Briggs started on 30th November and is working with the congregation to
plan the next stage of their journey.
MCC Brighton (Brighton, England) – The church is beginning an intentional six-month process
to discern the future direction of the church. The leadership and congregation are very excited at the
prospect of new styles of worship, new opportunities to serve and revealing a new direction for the
church. The Young-ish Adults Group continues to thrive and is currently studying Identity.
Icon MCC East London (London, England) – Rev Jak Davis – MCCEL meets once a month on
the first Tuesday in the month at a pub in Stratford for a social/topical discussion from a Christian
perspective and the MCC Outreach in Essex group meets on the first Wednesday of the month in a
pub in Basildon and does the same.
May God bless all the transitions in our Europe Network and be with us as we continue to work
together in ministry.
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Network Team to be built. Volunteers welcome!
Right now we are planning to build a network team. There will be volunteers responsible for
a) communications and sharing news
b) pastoral care
c) translations within our network
d) organisation of network gatherings
e) other
If you want to volunteer for one of the areas listed or if you want to offer dedication, ideas and help
for other areas which are not yet listed, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Jochen Gewecke
and drop him a line. He will get back to you asap. Please mailto:[email protected]
Emerging group in Merate/Milano (Milan, Italy)
Mario Bonfanti from Northern Italy shares with us the following:
”Currently, we have one worship service, one meeting and one Bible study a month.
About our service: we create the celebration together: we choose a theme (for instance this month we
picked ”death“) and then each one of us gives his/her contribution (texts, songs, prayers, symbols,
dances...) and we put all this stuff together. We often hold services in our houses or (when possible)
outside in woods or on a hill or near a river and sometimes we have lunch or dinner together at the
end sharing what each of us brings for the meal.
About the meeting: sometimes we need to make some organizational decisions, sometimes we use
the meeting for preparing our next service and sometimes we choose a theme (for instance this
month we are discussing ”evil“) and we debate about this.
About the Bible study: we read some pages and we share what the Word says to us. We choose an
unusual theme (the animals in the Bible) so that we can go beyond what we already know and find
something interesting for us and something that makes us think.“
Network Gathering 2015
Next year’s MCC Europe network gathering will take place from 14 – 16th August at Ammerdown,
Somerset (Great Britain). www.ammerdown.org
Next weekend, a small team consisting of Sören Kunze and Jochen Gewecke will do the kick-off preparations for the gathering. Please keep them in your prayers.
And please: Save the date!
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R.I.P. Hanjo Feyerke, member of Salz der Erde MCC Stuttgart
It is with great grief, that we had to say farewell to a long standing friend of
Salz der Erde MCC Gemeinde Stuttgart. It was totally unexpected, that Hanjo
Feyerke was called out of this life on 13th October 2014. He was 72 years old.
For more than 10 years, Hanjo had been a faithful friend of our congregation.
Even shortly before his death he played the mechanical street organ during
our network meeting in Stuttgart. All who were there will remember him, his little blind dog and his
Make headlines and change history
There was a newspaper article published just on the first day of our MCC Europe network gathering.
Rev Elder Darlene Garner and the MCC Europe network leader Jochen Gewecke had met a journalist
and had been interviewed the day before.
We are sending the article in the attachment to this newsletter. The English translation has been done
by Jutta Suthau.
Some network gathering feedback
”Three of us travelled from “Our Tribe” in Edinburgh to
Stuttgart for the European Network Gathering. It was a great
weekend of sharing with others from all over Europe and
further afield. It was wonderful to meet new people who are
beginning their journey with MCC and catch up with others
who have been travelling with MCC for many years. I have
just celebrated 25 years with MCC and the gathering
reminded me of the continued importance of our denomination in the world today. LGBTQI rights still
need to be fought for in many countries and we can be a voice in those places. Thank you to Jochen
and all who helped organise the gathering. I am already looking forward to the next one.“ (Maxwell)
”To me, it was a good first insight into the MCC network (and possibly not the last one ...). With regard
to contents, I was especially attracted by the fact that MCC is not meant to represent a group of
persons but rather a practice of faith, and the latter actually is relevant nowadays.“ (Mella)
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Some network gathering feedback (continued)
”At the gathering in Stuttgart I felt very welcome among you. I felt a family atmosphere. Everybody
could be him/herself without any problem. And there were no obligations, rigidity, hierarchies...but
freedom, respect, kindness, friendship...and so on, and this was very amazing and thrilling for me.
I'm very happy having met MCC and you all.
I thank God and Life for that and I’m looking forward to seeing you soon. And I really dream of MCC in
Italy as soon as possible. Italian people need a welcoming and really inclusive church like this.
Thanks and God bless you.“ (Mario Bonfanti)
”Creating room by coming together
To me, it was important to see in which structures MCC Stuttgart is embedded and who else belongs
to it. Besides, it was a wonderful experience to be together with so many people and celebrate worship. Many thanks to all those who contributed to it.“ (Judith)
”Why not organise something physical like a walk?“ (Bob)
”We must have time to create our dreams and visions.“ (anonymous)
”I liked a lot the friendship and welcoming among everyone. The freedom of attending workshops or
not and flexibility in program.“ (anonymous)
”Meeting Rev Darlene and so many MCCers from all over Europe
was a great experience. But – as if this alone wasn’t already impressive enough – God chose to touch me in a special and mysterious way during the last worship service. Usually, I do not weep in
public, if I can help it, not even in church, but while one special
song was being sung in that gathering, I started crying, unable to
stop until the end of the song. First I felt rather stupid and embarrassed, but then I realized that God was touching me deep down in my emotional self and I let Him do
His healing work. Not that I don’t need even more inner healing – but then and there He touched me
in a supernatural way and healed some parts of my broken heart. I am deeply grateful to
Him.“ (anonymous)
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Some network gathering feedback (continued)
”Helsinki calling
It’s been a while since I got reunited with my luggage after the Stuttgart gathering.
For me the experience was positive and it certainly was strengthening my vision of possible future
MCC Helsinki. I enjoyed the services and the workshops. I want to thank each and every one who had
taken responsibility of one or the other activity.
It’s very empowering to pray and praise together and to be totally, truly and wholly accepted into the
fellowship. Although it took a lot of energy to be together in such an intensive way it was also just what
I needed.
I got a good overall picture in “Be(com)ing MCC Europe”. There are questions we need to continuously
ask ourselves in order to keep the focus and find our way. For me personally it gave a good background for dreaming of MCC Finland. I really enjoyed the possibility to share stories and it was great to
talk with some of you and Darlene in the workshop. Our different stories when they come together can
form a picture of hope for all of us who are having a hard time with traditional churches and religious
groups.
I chose to update my view of AIDS/HIV because I think it’s one of the issues we need to remember.
It’s not going to go away - not anywhere in the near future.
“Sexual orientation and gender identity” was heavy on the facts side but also something I needed an
update on where we are in the religion and human rights map.
Also Mia’s workshop on active prayer has stayed with me, thank you for reminding us that there are
many ways to bring things to God. It was also very touching writing a prayer for a specific group or congregation and receiving some in return! I’ve prayed for you, MCC Brighton.
I have already reserved a slot in my calendar for the next year and this time I will be there with my
wife.
By the way, my lost luggage arrived at Helsinki two days later than I did.“ (Tarja Pyykkö)