14.08.2023

"Listening to the Word of God and being there for one another.

Warm Welcome in the Protestant City Church Moers, Photo: Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Moers

Pastor Yoram Karusya and Barbara Schwahn, Superintendentin of the Church District Krefeld, Photo: Angelika Veddeler / VEM

Last Sunday, Pastor Yoram Karusya celebrated his official start in the regional service of the United Evangelical Mission with a service in the Protestant City Church in Moers. 70 participants, including his family, UEM colleagues  and many guests from the Lower Rhine region welcomed him.

The pastor, a former general secretary and deputy bishop of the Karagwe diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, began his service as a regional pastor of the UEM in the Lower Rhine Region last November. The region includes eight church districts, from Wesel in the north to Aachen in the south.

Many personal contacts have already been established in the past months, as became visible during the service. And more are to come! In his sermon on the story of the two sisters Mary and Martha in the Gospel of Mark, Karusya emphasized that he can't see any conflict between listening to the Word of God and putting it into practice through active work.  "If Jesus came to me today, I would also first clean my whole house from top to bottom," he said. "In the Regional Service, both are important to us, listening to the Word of God and to each other and to you, the congregations, and the concrete programs that we carry out together with you," Karusya emphasized.

Together with the regional group that supports his work in the Lower Rhine region, Rev. Karusya has defined five thematic priorities on which his work will focus this year: 

Aging in different cultures

Climate justice

New ways in partnership work

Shaping worship services together

Discrimination and the church

He emphasized that he is looking forward to the exchange and cooperation in all church districts.

The service was also attended by guests from the Evangelical Church in Hesse Nassau, where Karusya has already lived and worked for six years. Close relationships were also evident in the greetings to the partnerships that exist from the EKiR to the Tanzanian Karagwe Diocese, for example, in the church district of Leverkusen.  All greetings made clear: Pastor Karusya's word counts, he is listened to.  "Because Yoram Karusya knows Germany well - so well that, as an advisor in a difficult situation in the region, he has even suggested a "Rhenish solution" as a way out!" reported the Superintendent of the Krefeld church district, Barbara Schwahn.

For more information, current events and activities of the Regional Service, click here.