NEWSLETTER – APRIL 2022
1573 East 18th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V5N 2H4
P. Ingrid Doerschel (604-566-2102) – pastor.stmarkslutheran@shaw.ca
Sekretariat (604-876-43120) – stmarkslutheran@shaw.ca
Künstler/Artist: Christian Chavvaria Ayala
April 2022
Liebe Mitglieder der St. Markus-Gemeinde, liebe Freunde,
Geschaffen hat das bunte Kreuz auf dem Deckblatt der lutherische Künstler und Pastor Christian Chavarría Ayala aus El Salvador in dem für sein Land typischen, farbenfrohen Stil. „Menschen gestalten diese Kreuze auf der Grundlage ihrer eigenen Erfahrungen“, erklärte Chavarría, der als Kind den salvadorianischen Bürgerkrieg überlebte und in einem Flüchtlingslager in Honduras aufwuchs.
Vor einigen Jahre hatte ich die besondere Gelegenheit, Christian Chavvaria auf einer Konferenz der Synode in Alberta (ELCIC) kennenzulernen. Als Kind und Jugendlicher erlebte Christian den Bürgerkrieg in El Salvador (1980 – 1991), in dem seine Geschwister und viele Freunde getötet wurden. Seine Mutter floh mit ihm nach Honduras, wo er mehrere Jahre lang in einem Flüchtlingslager lebte, bis es seiner Mutter gelang, ihn nach Schweden zu senden, wo er mehrere Jahre in Sicherheit leben konnte. Mittlerweile ist Christian wieder in sein Heimatland El Salvador zurückgekehrt.
Seine aussagekräftigen und lebensfrohen Kreuze sind in den Büros von Bischöfen, Politikern und ehemaligen Präsidenten zu finden. Zur weltweiten, ökumenischen Feier der 500-jährigen Reformation gestaltete Christian ein 2 m hohes Kreuz, das in der Kapelle des Weltkirchenrates in Genf zu finden ist. „Dieses Kreuz kommt aus einem sehr armen Land, wo Leid, Bandenkriege und Tod herrschen, aber trotzdem immer noch Hoffnung auf Gott und Inspiration existieren. Mit den Farben machen wir Gottes Liebe zur Welt sichtbar“, so Christian Chavarría, „es ist von jeher ein Zeichen der Hoffnung in unserem Ringen, ein Zeichen des Glaubens in unserer Verzweiflung, ein Zeichen der Liebe in unserem Leid, ein Zeichen des Lebens im Angesicht des Todes“.
Was bedeutet Ihnen das Kreuz?
Für mich wirkt es wie ein Leuchtzeichen in der Nacht, das Weisung und Hoffnung schenkt. Das Kreuz gibt zwar keine Antwort auf die bittere Frage nach dem Warum des Leids in unserer Welt. Und doch erkennen wir: Einer hält es aus. Bis zum bitteren Ende. Jesus, der Gottessohn, leidet wie Menschen leiden. Und wird gerade dadurch glaubwürdig. Er entzieht sich nicht in allmächtiger Weise dem Elend und dem bösartigen Spott der Welt. Sondern er bleibt. Und er verbündet sich in diesem Bleiben und in dieser einsamen Gottverlassenheit mit dem Leid und Elend aller Menschen, aller Zeiten, aller Orte. Hier leidet der Mensch gewordene Gott, geht in den tiefsten menschlichen Abgrund hinein – und führt uns doch zuletzt an seiner Hand, aus dem Abgrund heraus.
Angesichts von Nachrichten, angesichts auch des eigenen Leides, in dem es uns die Sprache verschlägt, hören wir einen göttlichen Klang, der uns glauben hilft, dass uns nicht das abgrundtiefe Nichts erwartet, sondern die grenzenlose Liebe Gottes und das Versprechen auf ein Zuhause, in welchem wir für immer geborgen sein werden.
Ohne Karfreitag können wir kein Ostern feiern. Ohne Leid zu verstehen und selbst durch dunkle Zeiten zu gehen ist es schwierig, der strahlenden Osterbotschaft zu glauben: Am Ende wird alles gut. Am Ende ist das Leben stärker als der Tod und das Licht stärker als die Dunkelheit.
Zugleich stellt sich eine große Freude ein: Jesus lebt. An Ostern öffnet sich die Tür in Gottes neuen Himmel und neue Erde. Wir sind eingeladen. Wer krank ist und Hilfe und Trost braucht, bleibt nicht allein. Wer Schuld auf sich geladen hat: Christus hilft sie zu tragen. Wer fremd ist und auf der Flucht, ist willkommen. Feinde versöhnen sich, die Hungrigen werden satt. Die gute Nachricht breitet sich aus: „Fürchtet euch nicht!“
Ihnen allen von Herzen eine gesegnete Passions- und Osterzeit!
Ihre / Eure
Pastorin Ingrid Doerschel
Einladung zu besonderen Gottesdiensten in der Osterzeit:
10. April (Palmsonntag): 9:30 Uhr Deutsch, 11 Uhr Englisch
14. April (Gründonnerstag): 19 Uhr Deutsch – mit Hl. Abendmahl
15. April (Karfreitag): 9:30 Uhr Deutsch – mit Hl. Abendmahl, 11 Uhr Englisch – mit Hl. Abendmahl
17. April (Ostersonntag): 9:30 Deutsch, 11 Uhr Englisch
Zu den Gottesdiensten sind ALLE eingeladen. Zum Schutze aller, insbesondere aber unserer Gemeindemitglieder in höherem Alter und/oder mit geschwächtem Immunsystem, bitten wir Sie, weiterhin aufeinander zu achten, Masken zu tragen, sich häufig die Hände zu reinigen und Abstand zu halten.
Freud und Leid
Im März verstarb unser Gemeindemitglied Ella Seiffert. Wir bitten den Herrn, die Verstorbene in Gnaden anzunehmen und die trauernde Familie durch sein Wort zu trösten.
Transition Committee:
Wir haben eine Reihe von Fragen und Kommentaren zum Synodenbeitritt erhalten, auf die im nächsten Newsletter eingegangen wird.
Fitness and Prayer:
Ab 20. April, 10:30 Uhr, wird sich diese Gruppe wieder im Kirchenkeller treffen. Bitte melden Sie sich bei Interesse im Kirchenbüro (604-876-4312), damit wir Sie über eventuelle kurzfristige Änderungen informieren können.
Deutsche Kindergruppe Outreach:
Montags ab 9:30 Uhr im Kirchenkeller, derzeit im allgemeinen alle 14 Tage (nächstes Treffen 11. April). Ostereiersuche am 18. April. Bitte melden Sie sich im Kirchenbüro, wenn Sie sich in die Kontaktliste der Gruppe eintragen möchten.
President’s Corner
My name is Tobias Finke; I was born in 1969 in East Germany, in an area known as the Erzgebirge, or lovingly called by many till today…”Das Tal der Ahnungslosen”. That is because it was the only area in the former East where the West German TV wasn’t available due to the remoteness. I was baptized and raised by a dad who worked as the local vet for the farm animals, and a mom that worked as a secretary at my school. Since it was pretty much illegal to go to church in the late 70’s and 80’s my parents didn’t take me there growing up. But I went to school with the daughter of the local pastor and could see firsthand the oppression and bullying she was exposed to. When I turned 19 (that was 1988) I decided to get confirmed myself to make a statement for church and against the communist state. I was lucky that the regime was already weakened enough at the time so that they couldn’t stop me from finishing high school and entering university (although it earned me a Stasi-Akte I am proud of today). I remember riding the bus one day with a classmate who had lost his spot at college because he didn’t commit to service in the East German army and tried to comfort him. His response surprised me when he said out lout (I was afraid people overheard our conversation…) “Why would you become Captain on a sinking ship”? More than 30 years later I have become Captain again, and that is because I have lived my entire life as an optimist, a believer in the good of people, and that there is always a way – when there is a will and with God’s help. I have always been someone that challenges the status quo.
When the wall finally came down I wanted to enjoy my newfound freedom and travelled as far away as possible. This trip took me on the Trans-Siberian Railway to China, and it changed everything. Not only did I end up staying 7 years, it is also where I met my beautiful wife (born and raised to 3rd generation Chinese immigrants in Vancouver), and the rest is history. After I got my engineering degree recognized in Canada I started working as a Project manager at the Airport, and this is where I still earn my bread and butter 17 years later. My biggest hobby has become fishing, and since last year I now also co-own an ocean-going boat I can’t wait to put in the water this summer.
My wife and I raised two beautiful young men (now 14&16 years old), both baptized by Pastor Ermisch. Although I am the only one in my family that speaks German, I have always felt connected to St.Mark’s, and I offered Pastor Ermisch help where needed. That is how I started to get more involved, first in building repairs (the rubber mat on the ramp to the church was my first project), and since last year as Chair of the Calling Committee. Never would I have dreamt that I am the President now. But I am proud of it, and promise to serve the congregation well. We are off to an amazing start with the arrival of Pastor Ingrid as our Transitional Pastor. There is a lot of work ahead of us, but I know we have many people cheering for us, some of whom live far and wide, and it gives me comfort that the Lord will do his part to support us in our quest for the future. Our congregation is on average 74 years old; everyone agrees this is not sustainable, and we need to revitalize now in order to survive. Church Council and Transitional Committee are currently working on a strategy that I am convinced will work, in fact not just work – but be amazing!
I have a dream that we reform our church to become relevant again for the younger generations, for people of all walks of life, for EVERYONE, and that my own children one day make their own conscious decision towards our faith just like I did when I was becoming an adult. I am convinced we will make this work and I urgently ask for your support and prayers. Let’s talk and move forward, save the ship from sinking and start bailing, with the help of God!
God Bless!
Tobias Finke, P.Eng, PMP
St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
1573 East 18th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V5N 2H4
P. Ingrid Doerschel (604-566-2102) – pastor.stmarkslutheran@shaw.ca
Office (604-876-4312) – stmarkslutheran@shaw.ca
April 2022
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Some years ago I have had the privilege to get to know Christian Chavarria, who painted the cross at the beginning of this newsletter, at a study conference of the Synod of Alberta, ELCIC. Christian is a pastor and an artist in El Salvador. He is well known for creating colourful crosses and has made more than 130,000 crosses, which have travelled to 109 countries. His crosses hang in the offices of bishops, politicians and former presidents in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Vatican.
Chavarria was a child when two of his siblings were killed in the Salvadorian civil war 1980 – 1991). He and his mother fled to Honduras, lived in the woods and later like prisoners in a refugee camp for years. As a teenager, he was targeted by the death squads for being affiliated with the guerilla. His mother managed to send him to Sweden as a refugee. Despite hardships of living in a foreign country, he felt free for the first time in his life. Repatriation when he came of age was equally hard but he says today that he would not live anywhere else but El Salvador. “I was a refugee most of my life, and I love my country,” he says. “It’s not worth leaving it in the hands of the bad people.”
I was thinking of him and his crosses when I was listening to the latest news from the Ukraine. Once Christian wrote: “The situation here is like a dark cross which we carry every day, but we have to transform it” the artist says. “We make crosses with strong colors, to show the beauty of God’s creation. The cross must not remind you that Jesus died on it, but that he died and has risen. It is a symbol of life for us.”
On the cross, Jesus joins the suffering and death of all of us and with that, he came to bring the healing, renewing, life-changing love of God to all of us.
The son of God takes on the form of a servant and dies the death of an outcast. Not, in the end, to show us how messed up we are. But to invite us into a real, genuine relationship with God and with each other.
But to truly understand what that means for us, we again have to remember the story of the arrest, trial, suffering, and death. Again we have to look at the cross and imagine what it means, really means, to us and for us. We will see fellowship in the midst of betrayal, love despite despair, suffering when there is no other choice, death as inevitable, and yet the promise of new life. And again, in the end, we will be celebrating together that love is stronger than hate and life stronger that death and how deeply involved we are in all of this.
A prayer for you:
Loving God, your great love raises the dead,
and condemns what is wrong in this life.
During this holiest of weeks we see hatred and brokenness, and hypocrisy;
but also beauty, and mercy and undying love.
Your death made clear what must come to an end:
our fear, our waste, our selfishness.
Yet we rejoice that in this dying lies our rebirth
and that you will bring the world, and all the grace-filled good in us, back to life. Amen.
Faithfully yours,
Pastor Ingrid Doerschel
Invitation to special services in the week leading up to Easter:
10 April (Palm Sunday): 9:30am German, 11am English
14 April (Maundy Thursday): 7pm German – with Holy Communion
15 April (Good Friday): 9:30am German – with Holy Communion, 11 English – with Holy Communion
17 April (Easter Sunday): 9:30am German, 11am English
ALL are welcome to attend the services. In order to protect everybody, in particular seniors or other vulnerable community members, we ask you to continue to be careful, wear masks, practice good hand hygiene and distance. Thank you.
Transition Committee:
We have received a number of comments and questions regarding the synod membership. These will be addressed in the next newsletter.
Please also read the President’s Corner in the first section of the newsletter!
