Free Evangelical Community in Kirchheimbolanden, Germany, turns 20

The Free Evangelical Community (FeG) in Kirchheimbolanden marked its 20th anniversary with a festive service at the end of September. Pastor Dirk Fuisting said the congregation was pleased to host Henrik Otto, whom the report identifies as leading the roughly 500 FeG congregations in Germany. Otto had also supported the growth of the congregations over their 20 years.

The congregation began in 2004, when believers started meeting on Sundays for a joint service. Without a church building, they met in several different locations. After a period of renting space, they bought a plot of land on the railway embankment in 2013. Much of the work on the community center was done by volunteers, and the building was expanded during the Corona pandemic.

Today the building can hold up to 200 people. About 140 worshippers attend Fuisting’s Sunday services, including 50 children and adolescents, who have a specially designed children’s service. The congregation also has a children’s and youth program that meets on Thursdays in the parish house. Fuisting said that many people who come to the church also take an active role, and the congregation asks members to consider what gifts they have and how they can use them in community life.

The congregation also offers programs for men and women. A men’s group is planned to meet on Wednesday, October 9, for a barbecue. The FeG’s Erzähl-Café International meets on Fridays from 16:00 to 18:00 at the community’s bistro on Am Bahndamm 13. People with a migration background receive help learning German, completing forms and understanding life in Germany. The church says the project is a way to pass on God’s love to visitors and help them integrate into the city, a practice of hospitality (Matthew 25:35). The project received the integration prize of the Donnersberg Circle in 2022.

According to Fuisting, 68 people are currently members of the congregation, not counting children and young people. He said that many people come regularly to services without being members. The report notes that the FeG does not practice infant baptism. Instead, believers are baptized later, based on their own decision.

The FeG is financed exclusively by voluntary donations from its members.

Source: Read the original report (translated from German)