Sisters Community in the United Evangelical Mission
We are a community of women, who in the strength of our Christian faith have served in the worldwide ecumenical community and continue to do so – both abroad and in Europe.
- Sisters in a meeting.
- This cross is the symbol of the community. Every new member is presented with this cross in form of a silver brooch.
We accept each other as sisters, as through our baptism we have been taken into the community of the church of Jesus Christ. What links us together is the awareness that through Jesus Christ we have been saved and freed to a life with each other and for each other.
We are linked through our daily prayers (we have a common order of prayer) and by the help we give each other in our daily lives. We practice spiritual fellowship, each personally in her daily life - and together in the regional groups, at the Sisters Day, in holiday communities and at retreats. We have given ourselves an order for our fellowship.
We want to be there for each other and for others, to be advocates for the dignity of women in society and to move together on the path of hope for a just community of women and men in church and society.
What do we do?
Sisters' Days
Once a year we meet for several days in Hester-Needham-House in Wuppertal for our Sister Days. Here we have the opportunity to exchange information, to report on developments in the individual member churches of the United Evangelical Mission (UEM) and the various fields of work, and to share our experiences and tell each other about what we have been doing.
Community Days
At the end of the Sister Days we have Community Days where we have the opportunity for joint Bible Studies, singing and cultural events.
Days of contemplation and retreat
Every year the Sisters Community invites us to days of retreat. We meet in retreat houses or convents in order to learn more about spiritual life and to practice it.
Personal relations
Personal relations have grown between us and new ones developed in the regions throughout the country and throughout the world. They are maintained by telephone calls, letters, visits, and intercessions and help for each other.
Holiday communities
We also offer holiday communities, which are also open to male and female friends of the sisters. Many of these holidays take place in Germany but some also in other European countries. During such holidays we often seek contact and meet up with sister communities in the holiday region.
- The sisters are linked through our daily prayers and by the help we give each other in our daily lives.
Where do we come from?
The Sisters Community has a more than a hundred years history. It came into existence at the end of the 19th Century as the sisters of the Rhenish Mission Society. Single women were blessed as sisters and sent out as missionaries to Africa and Asia.
The Sisters’ Community has existed as an organisation since 1921. Our tasks in the past were mainly in the diaconal and educational fields of work of the churches in Asia and Africa, and in the training of indigenous staff. The tasks have changed in the last few years. Today a large variety of professional qualifications are required by the member churches: teachers, educators, nurses, midwives, doctors, catechists, social workers, theologians and lecturers.
In 1971 the Rhenish Mission and the Bethel-Mission united to form the United Evangelical Mission (UEM). In connection with the new form of the UEM (1996) and the changes in the „mission community of 33 churches and the v. Bodelschwinghschen Anstalten Bethel“, the Sisters Community also became international in 1997. Women from the member churches in Asia and also women who supported the work of the UEM in Germany joined the Sisters Community.
We maintain historic relations to various sisters communities: to the Kaiserswerther Schwesternschaft, to IKADIWA, a sisterhood in Indonesia, that was founded by Indonesian women after meeting with sisters in Germany.
Certain areas of work of the Bethel-Mission were supported by deaconesses from Sarepta. In this way good relations to Sarepta were a matter of course in Bethel after 1971, and also the connection to the sisterhoods in Tansania (deaconesses in the Karagwe-Diocese and the North-West-Diocese of the Lutheran church), that had their roots in the encounter with Sarepta.For the future, these connections to other sisters communities and contacts and encounters with further women’s communities throughout the world are very important for us.
Where are we heading for?
We wish to exchange and pass on the various ecumenical missionary experiences from Africa, Asia and Germany.
We are open:
- for women from the member churches in Asia and Africa who have worked for a period of time within the framework of the programmes of the UEM
- for women, who work voluntarily in the work of the UEM;
- for women who are involved in ecumenical, missionary or development-related projects.
We invite women who are seeking a binding community and share our interests, to make contact with us.
Regional representatives
in Germany:
- Region Nord: Brigitte Stanko-Uibel,
Tel.: ++49.(0)30.414 333 71 - Region NRW-Ost: Luise Scholten-Haesecke,
Tel.: (0)521.522 98 98 - Region NRW-West: Gerda Spelsberg,
Tel.: ++49(0)2392.505 914 - Region Mitte: Irmgard Kahre-Geißler,
Tel.: ++49.(0)2687.21 80 - Region Süd: Elisabeth Falkenroth ++49.(0)7129/6374
in Asia:
- Florida Sitorus, Indonesia.
E-Mail: mamre_gkpi@yahoo.com - Lermianna Girsang, Indonesia
E-Mail: lermiannagirsang@yahoo.com
Regional meetings
In the five regions in Germany, meetings take place at least once a year. The sisters in Asia also meet regularly. Beyond this there are invitations to special events and to discuss special subjects sometimes just for small groups.
Where can we be reached?
In Hester-Needham-Haus
Schwesterngemeinschaft in der VEM
Rudolfstraße 131, 422 85 Wuppertal
Elisabeth Schäffer, Tel. 0049.2373-170 4140
E-Mail: srgem-vem(at)web.de
And in the regions via their representatives (see above)
