05.10.2023

From Youth Work to International Ecumenism

A church knowing where it stands in society: That's what Claudio Gnypek is working for. Photo by: Malte Möring, UEM

"I believe that the church can learn a lot here by looking at churches in other countries and other cultures: how we can also position ourselves as a church in society in the future, how we can get involved in the issues that are important to us."

Deacon Claudio Gnypek has been co-worker of the Regional Service of the UEM for the western Ruhr region since 1st September 2023. He follows Rev. Ursula Thomé, who retired last month. The region includes the German church districts of Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and An der Ruhr. Here Gnypek coordinates ecumenical grassroots work and exchange with various partnership groups.

For him, internal and external justice are goals of a church that is involved in society, since he started as a Church Youth Organizer. Concrete examples he gives from his work:

The direct import of oranges from Rosarno in Italy has become a real success in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, he says: "In Rosarno, people have come together to form an initiative that shows: there is another way!" The oranges are grown fairly and organically in southern Italy and then sold locally and all the way to Germany. Not via the supermarkets, but directly, "because they don't go into the system of exploitation!

This is how ecumenical work works for Claudio Gnypek: "These are very good oranges, they taste delicious, and I can tell a story with them. I can do educational work with these oranges: 'Let me tell you where they come from'." In this way, they can talk about economic justice as well as about displacement and the question of what it means to find a new home - for example in Rosarno.

Another example is a youth exchange between the Evangelical Church District Essen and the ELCRN*. Young adults from both churches face similar problems: "It is frustrating for the young adults to see that the church actually does nothing for them. There is a very lively children's and youth ministry and an established seniors' ministry, but somehow nothing in between. This is where a Namibian-German exchange arises on the question, "What can we as young adults do here now?"

In his free time, he likes to be out in nature, especially on his motorbike and camping.

We are happy that Claudio Gnypek is working in the Regional Service and wish him all the best and God's blessing for his upcoming projects.

*ELCRN = Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia