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Konstanz Germany - Church Takes Over Listed Building
24 September 2008
Konstanz, Germany, is a town divided. The Swiss-German border runs right through it.
This scenic town, a popular tourist destination in both summer and winter, is home to a young and growing church called Lakeside Church.
Konstanz is situated beside Lake Konstanz, with views of the Swiss Alps.
The church is just four years old, but recently took over a major building near the centre of town; a venue the leadership plans to use for community service and cultural activities, alongside weekly church services.
The venue, an old brick-making factory, is a listed building and well-known in the area. The church has already begun modernisation, with sensitivity to the history and atmosphere of the structure.
As with any church, however, it's what happens among the people that counts - and there's plenty going on in Lakeside Church, as Mal Fletcher discovered this week on his first visit to the city.
Speaking at the church's inaugural meeting in the new venue, Mal found a very passionate and committed group of people who are looking forward to shaping the future of their city in a positive way.
'As a former student of architecture, I'm interested in buildings,' said Mal after the service. 'But not near as much as I am in the people who use them.'
'This is a young church - though it has a great mix of generations represented. Yet it has the sense of having already a fairly well developed sense of what it wants to be, and what part it wants to play in the community.'
Pastors Freimut and Joanna Haverkamp pioneered the church four years ago. Freimut, a native of Konstanz, studied theology at Hillsong College in Sydney, where he and English-born Joanna met. The church services are very contemporary in style, but the strategy of the leadership is strategic, with an eye on serving the city.
For more on Lakeside Church, click here.
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