This past May I had the great joy of representing ACTS (Action of Churches Together in Scotland), as a young person working for both the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Church of Scotland, at the 2nd Ecumenical Kirchentag in Munich, Germany. Paul and I travelled over as part of a team from Scotland to participate in an incredible Christian conference filled with panel discussions, musical concerts, worship and fellowship. With around 250,000 people filling up the event locations all around Munich, this was an opportunity not to be missed and it also provided a last chance for Paul and I to be on holiday together before the arrival of Baby Brown!
The theme for this year’s Kirchentag was “That You May Have Hope” and for me, to be surrounded by so many other people who share a common faith and are excited to talk about their faith and learn from each other definitely filled me with hope. A shared joy in faith was also expressed in the many worship and prayer opportunities around about the Kirchentag. On our first morning there, Paul and I went along to a bible study to hear what Bishop Dr. Zephania Kameeta of Namibia would share on the covenant God set with Noah in Genesis. The Bishop’s talk was incredibly inspiring, but even more so when accompanied by the Red Roosters on Bridges choir rejoicing in God’s love for us. We found a similar sense of joy as well as peace much later in the day when we stood outside in the rain in the Marienplatz for evening prayers by candlelight. A couple days later, we stumbled upon a vibrant Gospel choir performance in another city square when we accidentally got off at the wrong underground stop. This was a happy accident as catching most of this Gospel Choir’s performance was a real highlight for me. 
We didn’t manage to get to the Taizé Worship though which we both really wanted to take part in. We got to the conference hall in time for it, but found the hall was overfull, so the doors were blocked and you had to stand outside in hopes of getting one of the last remaining spaces inside. We were right by the door so I was sure we’d get inside if we waited, but as soon as someone approached the door to let a couple more people in, a crowd came out of nowhere and pushed their way to the front to get inside – I was nearly knocked over in the push for the door. It really amazed me how desperate people were to get into a worship service that they would push a visibly pregnant woman over just to pray… After that, Paul and I decided that we could just send up our prayers to God while getting ice cream at a less crowded location rather than fight to get inside…
For panel discussions, Paul and I opted for topics exploring millennium goals and understanding the effects of the financial crisis on developing countries. These discussions were quite interesting with a mixture of politicians and clergy and we always walked away with points to discuss further. At the Kirchentag, there are so many things to do that it can be quite overwhelming to choose what to see next so it was really great to meet up with more of the Scottish team for some meals to catch up on what discussions they had also been to during the day which gave us a much broader picture of what was on offer.
One day, most of the Scottish team took a trip from Munich centre to visit Dachau to see the first concentration camp. The day was filled with a mixture of emotions as we walked through the grounds and buildings which contain such a harrowing history. To see the living conditions of the prisoners and finally the Crematoria, which was built so methodically for the purpose of ending lives and disposing of bodies, was just overwhelming. The experience of seeing this place in person brought the horrors of the Holocaust out of the history books and to the present in such an intense way. It is a living reminder of what has been and what we pray may never be again.
The Kirchentag, with its message of hope and peace in faith, gives us direction and encouragement as Christians. It was a few short days in Munich, but those days were packed full with experiences I will not soon forget. Thanks to volcanic ash, part of our team even had a day afterwards to be touristy in sunny Munich which was the perfect way to end an incredible adventure. Baby Brown seemed to enjoy the trip as well. He kicked whenever we rode the trains and seemed to really enjoy all the Bavarian Pretzels I was eating since I couldn’t enjoy the excellent beer… Paul had to drink for all three of us, which I don’t think he minded very much!
A day later, we finally managed to get a flight home. However, our airline was one of the cheap ones which doesn’t assign seats, so the rush from the terminal to the plane just to get seats together brought back memories of our attempt to go to the Taizé Worship… this time though, I was much more defensive and managed to get six seats together for our team…