First nationwide bluelight church service in Friedensau

On September 18, 2020, a service of a somewhat different kind took place in the late afternoon. A "bluelight church service" was held in the Friedensauer Arena for the full-time and volunteer workers in Jerichower Land, as a kind of "filling station for the soul". At the same time, the service offered the opportunity to point out and show appreciation for the sometimes heavy psychological and physical strains of the comrades in their missions.

"The fact that life can continue in an orderly and safe manner during these months is due in particular to the colleagues from the police, fire department, rescue service, control center, disaster control, THW and emergency pastoral care. It is therefore high time that we are together in this stressful time in a moment of silence and thanksgiving", with these words Christian Menn, theology student at the Friedensau Adventist University in his last year of study, opened the service as co-organizer. Many of the comrades had come, but also representatives of the district, such as the District Administrator Steffen Burchardt, representatives of the German Federal Armed Forces, as well as the Commissioner for Civil-Military Cooperation and Head of the District Liaison Command, Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Joachim-Friedrich von Witten and the police chaplain from Magdeburg Lutz Brillinger.

The Protestant Superintendent Ute Mertens (church district Elbe-Fläming), who organized the service together with the Friedensauer pastor Stefan Burton-Schnüll and the Protestant pastor Peter Gümbel (Burg), spoke about Elijah in her sermon. How important it was for the prophet after "end of mission" on Mount Carmel to have a help, an angel who gave him new strength and new energy. Helpers also need support and encouragement after the outreach, when someone has been injured, one has been mobbed, someone has died, relatives and those affected desperately remain behind. "We need filling stations for the soul, so that the soul does not become ill," said Ute Mertens.

The emergency pastoral care team in Jerichower Land was able to bless two new members for their ministry that evening: Friedensauer theology students Christian Menn and Benjamin Bahr, both of whom have already gained experience in outreaches.

From ladders of their fire truck, the comrades of the Friedensau Volunteer Fire Brigade had erected a large cross and placed it at the front of the arena. Symbolically, the jackets of the fire department, police, rescue service, technical relief organization and emergency chaplaincy hung on it. All - all of us - need alignment with the cross; we need strength and help from God. Such a service can be an impulse for this. The "bluelight church service" will hopefully experience a continuation: for the sake of the "earthly angels".