The Reformed Church Community Bremgarten–Mutschellen is a part of the Reformed Cantonal Church of Aargau. The church has 8500 members who live in 12 political communities. Services are held in three locations — Bremgarten, Mutschellen, and a pavilion in Niederwil — as part of the church's mission to minister to all of its members. They are supported by seven pastors, three deacons, seven religious instructors, and roughly 150 volunteers.
The parish visit, which had been carried out for four days and three nights, brought one impression about how this parish struggles to live in the changing society. The social landscape is becoming more plural with different religious and cultural affiliation. Moreover, secularism that has been a part of European society is also brought a problem for some people within this parish.
When the first time arrived at this parish, we (me and friend of mine from Nigeria) were greeted by the parish's kindness. We first gathered at a family's home, and then we had dinner together while exchanging our stories about our home countries. This is the first encounter with the parish life that brought me into consideration about how stories of lives really important for this parish. They are interested in learning about all of the differences we have in our own countries. And, as I previously stated, this curiosity can be understood in the context of the parish's evolving social and cultural landscape.
After dinner, we were invited to join Taizé worship, and I was impressed by the fact that the whole participants of worship were women. Taizé worship creates a place and space for women in this community to come together and share their daily lives stories. This kind of activity helps them to live together in the sense of communion in which stories of their lives are shared. As a result, worship participants are curious about stories of lives in my country.
The third encounter took place when we were preparing the sunday worship with the parish's pastors. The pastor described how people in Switzerland had struggled for years with people of various ethnic and religious backgrounds. In this context, the Aargau Reformed Church tries to explain its position on national voting which will determine the fate of immigrants if they were convicted of crimes. The church seeks to maintain a balance in order to avoid falling into either the right-wing (those who keep repeating stories about how Christians in other countries are persecuted) or the left-wing (people who have social issues as their agenda). The church is more concerned with the peace project, in which themes like Christianity, culture, and societal problems (crime, violence, and so on) can be discussed in a peaceful manner. This stance is thought to lead to the church accepting all differences. In this context, since this year, the church has chosen the theme "Religion in Freedom and Dignity" as its theme for this year, reflecting its struggle in an ever-changing world. As a result, the church needs to hear accounts from people of countries about the diversity of religious and cultural lives. In the third encounter, stories of lives play a vital role for this parish in the fight to eliminate religious and cultural prejudices that exist in society. When the Sunday worship was finally over, some individuals commented that they needed to learn more from other countries about how to live in a pluralistic society.
The parish is also facing the problem of youth's participation in the life of church. We were asked to observe how the youths are preparing for confirmation by participating in several activities. Of course, the parish has yet to find the proper approach for including youth in church life. Moreover, even though the parish appears to have become accustomed to this reality, it continues to seek out new ways to instill Christian values in the lives of young people.
There were some positive encounters in 4 days-parish visit, particularly with community hospitality. But, the three encounters that I have explained are closely related to the current challenges facing this parish in the changing society.
If we look at the three encounters described above, the term “stories of lives” is really important in the context of the community struggling to comprehend a society that is growing plural. This term basically is closely connected with the ecumenical movement, especially when we understand the ecumenical movement as an experiential movement that emerges from people's daily lives, where lives are shared in a community of faith in the midst of change.
As a result, the term "stories of lives" becomes significant and integral to ecumenical life. To put it another way, living ecumenically involves sharing stories of lives with others and being enriched by those stories. The transformation that has occurred in society over the years has created a new reality for the church, in which "stories of lives" become more significant in assisting the church in navigating the diversity of lives and then using an ecumenical approach to overcome the segregation in social life brought by globalization.
