Massoud has a mission

Muslim convert becomes Danish pastor

Massoud Fouroozandeh is the first Danish Lutheran pastor with a Muslim background. His aim is to link more migrants closer to his new faith. ”My life journey shows it clearly: God can create a movement we cannot even dream of. But that does not mean that there are no obstacles. That’s how I see the task ahead of me now, and the movement that I hope to start in the church.”

Folkekirken.dk meets Massoud Fouroozandeh in St. Hans’ Church in Odense a few days before his ordination in nearby St. Knud’s Church, the city’s cathedral. His ordination is the culmination of a dramatic journey from Iran over the mountains to Turkey and on to Denmark – from being an exemplary pupil in Koran School to leading the multi-cultural Church of Love and then becoming a pastor in the Danish Lutheran Church. “It’s a dream come true – to be able to use the gifts of grace that God has given me to work in the Danish church. Fortunately my mother will be present, even though she is not very well at the moment,” says Massoud.

A deeper theology
It was Massoud’s mother who began to gather Iranian Christians around her home in Odense, praying that God would enable them to build a church for new Danes. And they did – opening the Church of Love (in Farsi, Muhabat) in 1997; this now has branches in Copenhagen, Aarhus and Aalborg. Massoud has been the church leader ever since. After a conversion experience in 1996 he put his business life behind him and devoted his time to preaching the love of God, especially among refugees and immigrants. “God’s love is central to me. But along the road I have discovered that the people I meet want more than just a simple message. They want a deeper theology, and I’ve found that in the folkekirke,” he says.

To deepen his knowledge Massoud began to study Theology at university, and in 2010 he gained his Masters degree, which he has since followed up with further training at the Pastoral Seminary. This month he takes up a 3-year appointment as pastor for immigrants with a link to St. Han’s Church in Odense, a church marked by both the Lutheran Mission and the Home Mission. “For me it is a church marked by what one can call conservative theology. That sits well with the fact that many Christian immigrants have similarly conservative attitudes to, for instance, divorce, homosexuality and abortion.”

“God has a purpose”
His first aim is for the Church of Love to become a voluntary free church within the established church; and he also wants to improve links between the other immigrant churches. “I believe God has a purpose in placing me here, where I can build bridges between Danes old and new. It’s no easy task, but then my path to this point has not been easy either, so I am not worried about it,” he says.

 

 

Translated by Edward Broadbridge

By: Malene Fenger-Grøndahl – folkekirken.dk

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