B o c h u m – Should African Christian churches in Europe retain the spiritual character of their homeland or adapt to churches in their new surroundings, in order to ease the integration of their members into society? This question is the topic of an intensive course at the interdenominational francophone training center, the Institut Biblique in Bochum, Germany. There is tension especially in questions of power and the relationship between men and women, explained Michael Kißkalt, professor of missiology at the Elstal Theological Seminary of the German Baptist Union in his class. He also works as head of the Division of Mission and Evangelism of the European Baptist Federation. According to him, in Africa different church structures have developed than in Europe. Thus a pastor in Africa considers himself to be the head of the church family, and is therefore endowed with special authority. His decisions are not to be questioned. But in Europe, this concept of leadership is being questioned more and more by the younger generation. A similar area of tension is the relationship between men and women in the church. In Africa, women are primarily responsible for service ministries behind the scenes. There are only a few women pastors in African churches. Whether or not they should even be allowed to serve as pastors at all is heavily disputed among their male colleagues. Michael Kißkalt encourages the churches to seek help from mediators in these conflicts. Former missionaries to Africa could help as well. He himself worked as a missionary in Cameroon from 1995 to 1999.

The class was attended by eight participants on-site and 15 others in Frankfurt, Ireland, Holland and Switzerland, who were connected via videoconference over the internet. As Kißkalt told the EBPS, during the discussion time, the participants’ emotions heated up. Kißkalt has been with the school since its beginning ten years ago: “The unrestrained hunger for theological training among African pastors has fascinated me from the beginning.”   He teaches one weekend per year each the topics missiology, evangelization, and cross-cultural communication.

The “Institut Biblique et Théologique de Bochum” was founded in 2002 by the francophone Baptist church Mouvement International du Réveil Spirituel (International Movement for Spiritual Revival).  The school has since become independent. It offers one- to three-year courses of study. Instruction takes place primarily on weekends, from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon. So far, 80 of those interested have completed the training, paying for it out of their own pockets. As the number of local course participants decreased, those in charge decided to restructure it as an on-line school. In addition, there is a sister school in Dublin, the capital of Ireland, with similar course offerings.

The Institut has also arranged student travel for the past three years. Among the offerings are Israel and western Turkey, where many Christian churches were planted during New Testament times.

There are 18 French-speaking African churches in the German Baptist Union. In all of Germany there are an estimated 200 such churches. In France, Belgium and Russia there are also numerous French-speaking churches.

Internet: ibtb-online.de