For decades, the Saarland church district has maintained a partnership with the church district of Goma there.
In front of a delegation from Goma, the 85 delegates from 26 church congregations adopted a resolution to urge church officials and the public to support peace efforts in the Congo and to advocate for a ban on the trade of illegally exported earth precious metals.
While Europe experienced peace for over two generations, the Congo has been the site of armed conflicts for 30 years due to the raw materials trade. Attacks by militias, violence, kidnappings, and massive flight movements are a frightening part of everyday life there. "We had long failed to realize what this difficult security situation means for the people in the partner church district," admitted Superintendent Christian Weyer. "In this sense, the Ukraine conflict woke us up from our dream," Weyer acknowledged. Fabien Kakwire, Superintendent of the partner church district Goma from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who participated in the Synod with a delegation, expressed his gratitude for the support, hospitality, and the now nearly 40-year partnership between Goma and Saarbrücken. In the future, mutual exchanges are intended to form the sustainable foundation of the partnership work. For the coming year, a skilled worker exchange is planned between a nursery school in the Congo and the Protestant daycare center in Saarlouis.
In his report to the synod, Superintendent Weyer identified the massive staff shortage, especially among pastors, as a significant challenge for the Protestant Church today. There are already hardly any applications for vacant positions. Due to retirements and a lack of new recruits, the situation in some regions is threatening. "There is a shortage everywhere," Weyer said in view of currently some unfilled pastoral positions and the shortage of skilled workers in other areas. In the future, it will be necessary to carefully consider what the church can still accomplish and how pastoral service can be structured. Planning will also be required for buildings in light of rising maintenance and energy consumption costs, determining which buildings can be energetically renovated and preserved long-term. Clemens Grünebach, head of the Catholic Pastoral Area Saarbrücken, advocated in this context for an "ecumenism of problem-solving," for example in the shared use of buildings.
The synod unanimously agreed to request the regional church to secure and strengthen the area of children's worship services. The goal is to maintain and further develop a comprehensive and low-threshold training program for volunteers in this area in the long term. Furthermore, the church district demands that the regional church establish an additional training course for future lay preachers, i.e., part-time or volunteer preachers. The high demand has led to long waiting lists and multi-year waiting times for years, the Alt-Saarbrücken parish justified their request.
In addition, the delegates approved the budget and the district church levies, including those for Diakonie Saar, the
Association of Evangelical Daycare Centers in Saarland (VEKiS) as well as the church district association An der Saar. According to current plans, the congregations in the Saar-West church district will have up to 106.86 euros per member available next year, which is roughly at the level of 2022.
The Protestant Church District Saar-West belongs to the Protestant Church in the Rhineland. It extends from Rilchingen-Hanweiler in the east along the Saar River to Perl in the west and to Lebach and Wadern in the north of the Saarland. Currently, around 74,000 Protestants live there in 26 congregations. The seat of the superintendency is Saarbrücken. The superintendent is currently Pastor Christian Weyer.
