More immigrants in church jobs

A diversity of cultures as a strength rather than a weakness

Taking into consideration the Danish legal and language demands before a pastor can be ordained in the Danish Lutheran Church, it is perhaps surprising that there are now 13 pastors in Denmark whose roots are outside the country. Although pastoral appointments are still few and far between, more immigrants are finding work in churches around the country, not least as vergers. Fluency in the Danish language and culture is the paramount requirement.

Birthe Munck-Fairwood, leader of the church’s Inter- Cultural Centre in Copenhagen, tells The Christian Daily that Christian immigrants can be divided into two: “There is a group of immigrants for whom Christianity means a lot and who therefore want to be employed by the church. And there is another group, often well-educated in their homeland, who find it more difficult to get a job that matches their expectations.”

We need people from outside

A recent case in question is that of Pastor Alfonso Waco from Angola, who has a fully qualifying Danish ordination and has applied for over 200 pastorates without yet being even short-listed. On the other hand, Kamelesh Biswas, who is of Indian origin, works as an inter-cultural parish catechist in Kolding and feels he is making a difference simply by his presence: “Denmark is becoming increasingly multi-cultural and we need people from outside with different angles on the church, also in relation to other immigrants who go to church.”

A 4-hour service in Madagascar

At a meeting with immigrant pastors of all denominations Bishop of Haderslev Niels Henrik Arendt recently pointed to the diversity of religions and cultures in their original countries as compared with the predominantly Lutheran mono-cultural Denmark.

“There is much for us to learn”, he said, “not least in our forms of worship, where we take it more or less for granted that it is the pastor and a few staff who shoulder responsibility. Last autumn I visited a Lutheran church in Madagascar where the service lasted 4 hours - because the whole congregation was involved all the time. They felt an ownership for what they were doing – and in Madagascar a new Lutheran church is opening every week. One of the reasons for this astonishing growth is precisely the congregation taking responsibility for itself and its worship.”

 

By: Edward Broadbridge

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