Die Gemeinde

German was never my strongest language. Die Gemeinde may be one of the reasons why. It is untranslatable into English because it means several different things at once for which, in English, we use different words. But one of those words is 'fellowship'.

Recently it was a special joy to get at last to Kelkheim, Germany, during my weeks away. Kelkheim is the twin town of High Wycombe and for a long time our church has had a link with the Evangelical Baptist Church there.

I set out from nearby Frankfurt on an early Sunday morning train in warm spring sunshine. I was probably unique on the train in not having a bike with me - I was certainly unique in not having a back pack! Walking and cycling are the draw to the Taunus Hills on a sleepy Sunday morning and the train wound its way upwards past neat villages until it reached the more substantial town of Kelkheim.

At this point it is worth recording that I had been in Germany for 24 hours, and previously never before. I was a long way out of my comfort zone.
Armed with my map I walked from the station through the warm sunshine and the quiet, hilly streets for a few hundred metres and there ahead of me was the Evangelisch-Freikirchliche Gemeinde (Baptisten). As befits a former shop it looked like, well, a shop!

When the service began the generous visuals on powerpoint and my low level GCSE German meant that I was never far off what was going on. Mysteriously, somehow these hundred or so people were not passing acquaintances but everlasting friends. Our language was often handshakes and smiles more than words but we were one people. I felt at home.

The only point at which I completely lost track was, strangely enough, the very last song. Following the benediction I leaned over to the worship leader and asked if she could tell me what it was about. It turned out it was a song about Christian fellowship and looking forward to meeting again soon.

I thought that was appropriate. The mystery in the whole morning was about fellowship, for which the phrase is Die Gemeinde. Intangible yet real across the borders of history and language I was more at home with these believers than in a body of unbelieving Englishmen. What a privilege it is to have been saved into the Church of the living God!