So I today went to the SELK (Selbständige Evangelische--Lutherishe Kirche) congregation in Berlin-Marzahn. It is a mission congregation started by one or two other SELK churches in order to reach out to the East Germans after the wall fell. There were about 30 people present. It was the first time I've ever registered for communion and had my name written down, a common practice in Germany, which also used to be common in the LCMS until modern times. For reasons Benjamin could explain better, they don't have a pastor at their congregation, but are served by what we would call vacancy pastors. So I got to meet a pastor whose name I can't find on the bulletin, but who traveled to Fort Wayne last year to give a paper at the Löhe Conference. Anyway, the service was very orderly and proper and beautiful, and I could understand much more of it than I normally do of conversation. Following in their hymnal was pretty straightforward, which was very helpful. There was kuchen and coffee afterwards, and it was fun to converse with the congregation members, especially the children who are learning English in their schools.
Well, my own language instruction is starting up soon! I'm going to take a test tomorrow at Goethe so they can place me in the right section. Then the classes start up Tuesday. I visited the Institut last Monday to find out where they're located and to see what route I'd need to take. It was a bit hard to find, but now I know where it is. There are classrooms in the main building, and a library in an adjoining part with many easy to read books, for different levels and with different topics. There's tvs with headphones for watching instructional videos, and some audio stations as well. I'm looking forward to the education, but especially to being able to converse at a faster speed with the Germans. Right now I feel like I load down the conversation trying to get out a single sentence. Oh well. Thus is life. It's time for bed here, so gute nacht!
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