{"id":5425,"date":"2020-07-20T21:12:37","date_gmt":"2020-07-20T19:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.seele-und-sorge.de\/?page_id=5425"},"modified":"2026-03-20T15:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T14:30:15","slug":"the-transformative-power-of-diaconia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.seele-und-sorge.de\/?page_id=5425","title":{"rendered":"The Transformative Power of Diaconia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An eight-headed hydra<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Germany today we hear a lot of\ntalk about the \u201cnew normality\u201d. In the middle of the coronavirus crisis it aims\nto show that the \u201cold life\u201d is not coming back. Some see it as an opportunity: perhaps\nit will finally be possible to drive digitalisation forward or to also appreciate\nthe system relevance of the medical professions. And possibly we will even\nmanage to learn from the pandemic how to handle the climate crisis – that\npolitical action is possible! Others fear that this crisis will only reveal and\nheighten what has been moving in the wrong direction for years \u2013 the growing\ninequalities, intergenerational conflicts and struggles to obtain care. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least the awareness is gradually\ndawning that the pandemic is only another, particularly abrupt tipping point in\na series of major crises that condition one another. Only recently the\necological crisis – coming to a head in the acceleration of climate change, increasing\nconflicts about raw materials and a growing decline in biodiversity \u2013 has\nbrought young people worldwide into the streets with Fridays for Future. And when,\nat the moment, there is so much talk about economic recovery programmes and sovereign\nbonds, the model is the financial crisis of 2008, whose consequences have not\nyet been overcome. Above all in southern Europe the sovereign debt crisis\nshowed what it means when states are unable to act and societies are taken\nhostage by the financial markets; the high death rates through Covid-19 in\nItaly or in Spain are telling evidence of having \u201cslimmed down\u201d their health\nsystems. And finally, problems of globalization came to the fore right at the\nstart of the current crisis, when demand for medicines and masks produced in East\nAsia led to considerable supply shortages worldwide. And soon the employment crisis\nshowed up as a threat to health. In the organisations and companies with\nprecarious employment \u2013 abattoirs, parcel distribution centres, but also in the\naccommodation of seasonal workers \u2013 the number of persons infected was\nparticularly high. That also applied to almost forgotten hostels for refugees. In\nview of the first debates about the consequences of the pandemic, many now remember\nwhat is called the refugee crisis of 2015, which had the potential of splitting\nthe population \u2013 not least for fear of further \u201csocial cutbacks\u201d in the aging\nsocieties of Europe, which are struggling to shore up their national welfare systems.\nAnd yet the wars, the environmental and economic disasters from which people\nflee are themselves partly caused by the worldwide conflicts for food, water\nand energy. It is an eight-headed hydra \u2013 every attempt to solve one or another\nproblem in the usual way seems to lead to contradictions and tensions. We need to\nfind new ways forward, a radically new reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could we have prepared for this?\nCould we have known what was coming? No doubt! Not only the problems in the Middle\nEastern countries, or the threat of a looming pandemic had been known for years.\nThe same applies to the global economy, the unemployment crisis and the concerns\nabout extreme climate change. It had long been clear that the above-mentioned\ncrisis phenomena were intersections in a great transformation process\ncomparable to the transformation towards an industrial society in the 19th<\/sup>\ncentury. It was still not possible to describe the challenges for politicians\nand civil society in such a way that change became possible. In 2009 the EKD issued\na statement entitled \u201cLike a High Wall, Cracked and Bulging\u201d; the crisis on the\nfinancial markets was interpreted in the spirit of Isaiah\u00b4s call to repentance.\nBut for those who are \u201ctoo big to fail\u201d, it is hard to let go of the old life. Hence\nthose who experience and suffer injustice are giving up hope and despairing.\nThat undermines the credibility of democracy but also of the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For all those reasons, the crises\nwe are going through raise questions for faith and the church. In 1928, in his\nsermon \u201cServe the Time\u201d, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: \u201cIf\nwe but understand the deep, pure form of these times and how to\nrepresent them in the way we conduct our own lives, then we will\nencounter God’s holy presence in the midst of our own time.\u201d Two\nyears afterwards, when National Socialism was leaving its imprint more and more\non society in Germany, he was visiting the United States. He was urged to\nremain there, in exile like other emigrants. He decided to return to Germany and\nget completely involved in the depths of his age. \u201cYou have to see the depth of\nreality with the clear eyes of faith in order to be able to shape it with the\nsaving arms of love,\u201d wrote Johann Wichern in the 19th century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Signs\nof the times <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do we discern in these days of\ncrisis \u2013 and what had become clear beforehand? \u201cAs long as Germans have to go\nto the food bank, there is no room there for refugees\u201d was the message in 2018 in\nthe German city of Essen. The leaders of the Essen food bank had decided to\ntemporarily exclude refugees so that German pensioners, unemployment benefit\nrecipients and deprived families could receive food supplies. The argument that\nflared up all over Germany showed: there is not only a crack between top and\nbottom but also between inside and outside \u2013 this is magnified at the food banks.\nAnd \u201cpoor kitchens\u201d have a tradition. When the great transformation in the 19th\ncentury overwhelmed families and parishes, diaconal associations took the initiative\nand founded soup kitchens, kindergartens, care homes, houses of refuge. It took\nuntil the end of the century for social security systems to be created at the\nnational level. Anyone who saw their life falling to pieces through accident,\nillness, unemployment, was to be able to rely on mutuality and community\nsupport. Yet it was not just a matter of money \u2013 it was about the feeling of\nbelonging even when depending on assistance. This basic feeling seems to be\nfalling apart again today. The food banks are the soup kitchens of our days. But\nmore is needed. In Spain an \u201cunconditional basic income\u201d is being tried out. Perhaps,\nin the foreseeable future, Germany too will need to detach the social insurance\nsystems from a direct connection to earnings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the coronavirus crisis there was\nconstant reference to the heroes and heroines of daily life \u2013 to nurses, sales\npersonnel, cleaners, who \u201ckept everyday life going\u201d. After the first few weeks,\nwhen people clapped on their balconies everywhere in Europe, it was clear: these\nheroines \u2013 they are mostly women – are \u201csystem-relevant\u201d but generally poorly\npaid, if at all. When schools and daycare centres closed, women coped with home\nschooling on top of work in their home office for weeks, or did without paid work\naltogether. And even before the crisis 1.5 million people were cared for by\nrelatives \u2013 for an average of nine years with reduced employment and a growing\nrisk of poverty. Often with support from an ambulatory care service, where the\npoorest paid staff work as carers. Eastern European domestic helps are the answer\nwhen the relatives live too far away. There are between 300,000 and an\nestimated 600,000 of them at present. Many only became aware of this when the\nborders with eastern Europe closed at the start of the pandemic. Where the\nwelfare state policies fail, care work will be privatised again and performed\nby the family. The commission for the Seventh Family Report of the German\nFederal Government pointed out that a care deficit will threaten if it is not\npossible to question the absolute priority of economic thinking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need networks against\nloneliness, caring communities \u2013 with families, neighbours, service-providers,\nand cooperation between staff and volunteers. After all, according to a\nrepresentative survey 25 percent of the German population are already engaged\nin neighbourly assistance with shopping, handyman services and child care. In the\npandemic crisis that turned into organised networks, with younger people doing\nerrands for the elderly folk. Mutual support improves the quality of life of\nall concerned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the motto \u201cout-speculated\u201d over\n10,000 people demonstrated in 2019 in Munich, Frankfurt and Berlin against the \u201ccrazy\u201d\nhousing situation. Long queues to view apartments, exorbitant rents and a trend\naway from permanent tenancy. Students camping in the university. Pensioners who\ncan no longer afford their flat when their partner has to go into a home or passes\naway. About 37,000 homeless people live in Berlin alone, almost a quarter of\nthem with children. At the same time, luxury apartments are standing empty\nbecause they are used as investments and objects of speculation. It is no\naccident that, of all companies, the real estate group Deutsche Wohnen moved up\ninto the German share index (Dax) when in June 2020 Lufthansa was downgraded. But\nthe rooms in which we live are more than an investment. Here too it is a matter\nof feeling we belong \u2013 as citizens we are part of urban society. The less private\nliving space and the less property we have, the more we need public places in\nthe city, freely accessible river banks, open churches and benches on the\nmarket square. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where\nWE becomes important <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The struggles of our times are care\nstruggles, that mark the end of the neoliberal hopes \u2013 it is about food,\nhousing, care and mobility. And it is about home \u2013 the town in which I can say\n\u201cwe\u201d. Shrinking regions show how home is eroding: young people in the\nprosperous regions, with the older ones staying back, frequently as home-owners\nwho can hardly sell their properties. Families and neighbours change too, however,\nbecause people move in from elsewhere \u2013 from the country to the towns, from the\ntowns to the plusher outlying suburbs, as job-seekers, migrants or refugees. With\ngrowing diversity comes uncertainty, a growing feeling of being a stranger in\nour own city. Families with small children, also old or sick people \u2013 whose\nshare in the total population is growing \u2013 come under particular pressure when\ncoping with daily life if they cannot fall back on the automatic assistance of\nrelatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To organise cohesion it is not\nenough to install a platform \u2013 be it digital or analog. If we want to reach\nthose who do not normally assert their rights, intermediary organisations are\nnecessary: schools, churches, welfare organisations, political parties. Precisely\nsuch organisations have been in retreat in the last few years \u2013 from district\nadministrations to church parishes. It is not enough to have rights \u2013 citizens\nneed information and people who listen and encourage them. How can we succeed\nin creating good places \u2013 or more exactly: the conditions and empowerment for a\ngood life at the local level? Welcome projects for familes or refugees,\nelderly-friendly and dementia-friendly towns, inclusion districts for people\nwith disability \u2013 they all live from an interweaving of different types of\nassistance. The social seedbed that characterises itself through individual\nassistance, proximity, voluntary work and versatility, needs supplementing\nthrough demand-led, high quality and organised systems of assistance. It will\nbe decisive to understand both in terms of their own dignity and logic. The\npromotion of \u201ccaring communities\u201d in neighbourhoods and church parishes must be\nembedded in communal care structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Church\nin transformation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experiences in the refugee\ncrisis can open our eyes to this. The voluntary commitment in assisting\nrefugees was a key factor in coping with the most urgent requirements. According\nto an Allensbach poll on civic engagement in assisting refugees of April 2017,\n40 percent of volunteers work in groups that have formed exclusively for this\npurpose \u2013 without a legal form, with flat hierarchies and a high degree of ways\nof participation. 23 percent got involved of their own volition and outside all\ninstitutions. Young people between 20 and 30 were the dominant age group – and they\norganised themselves not least via the new media. In order, however, to\nperpetuate the successes, these initiatives needed an institutional framework. At\nmany places such a structure was established and the church has thereby visibly\nreturned to its public mandate. Volunteers offering the refugees accommodation,\nclothing, language courses and accompaniment in daily life were able to rely on\nchurch structures and premises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That reminds me of the beginnings\nof diaconal ministries in the 19th century when committed citizens looked after\nthose who were falling by the wayside during the industrialisation \u2013 migrants\nand patients without nursing care or close to death, overstretched families or\nunemployed youth. Over time, in the eyes of many, the welfare associations\nfunctioned similarly to \u201cstate\u201d social services and, more recently, they have\nbecome market-driven. Dedicated volunteers are particularly welcome when the\npublic coffers are empty. At the same time, however, the commitment of\nvolunteers is a seismograph of societal changes. The demographic change became\nclear to many in a flash when, during the coronavirus crisis, the volunteers at\nthe food banks or neighbourhood assistance stayed away \u2013 many of them were over\n65. These older people, from the angle of health policy perceived as the main \u201crisk\ngroup\u201d, constitute the bulk of the volunteers. Even before programmes and structures\nare developed they roll up their sleeves and get down to work wherever needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was like that in the 19th\ncentury diaconia, when Johann Hinrich Wichern highlighted the diaconal role of\nall \u2013 by analogy with the priesthood of all baptised. That idea has since\nsustained youth associations, the ecumenical movement and adult education. But Christians\nhave also contributed and carried their own ideas into the church in the peace\nmovement, the environmental movement, in movement for women\u2019s liberation or to\nestablish hospices… The \u201cofficial\u201d church needs people who are close to societal\nupheavals and to personal hardship, and who recognise the signs of the times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But unlike in the 19th century, those\ninvolved in the church and diaconia are far from all being church members\nnowadays. How much responsibility may they assume in church bodies and\nstructures? What about those who are not baptised because their parents were\nnot members? Would church membership on a trial basis be conceivable? Essential\nquestions for the future of the church will be whether the dialogue with\nactivists and seekers succeeds and what role is played not only by vocational\nand skills-related training but also religious education. Pastors, deacons,\ncongregational educators and youth workers increasingly see themselves in the\nrole of coaches, trainers and moderators of change processes. Here all\nconcerned benefit from the cooperation between parishes, diaconal ministries,\nadult education, youth work and schools. Instead of separate functions a\nnetwork mindset is called for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our society, which is strongly\ncharacterised by the wish for autonomy and self-optimisation, needs a\ncounterweight to the commodification of the social and health system \u2013 the\nreadiness to mutually support and take responsibility for ourselves, for\nothers, for social development and for creation as a whole. It is about having\nopen eyes to discern the signs of the times, and finding words of comfort. It\nis about feeding the hungry, offering a home to refugees, visiting the sick,\nnot forgetting the prisoners and placing children in the centre. That often\nstarts on a small scale with works of compassion. But the history of the church\nshows how small gestures can resonate and change society. Diaconia has\ntransforming power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An eight-headed hydra In Germany today we hear a lot of talk about the \u201cnew normality\u201d. In the middle of… read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":570,"menu_order":91,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5425","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seele-und-sorge.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5425"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seele-und-sorge.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seele-und-sorge.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seele-und-sorge.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seele-und-sorge.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.seele-und-sorge.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5426,"href":"https:\/\/www.seele-und-sorge.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5425\/revisions\/5426"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seele-und-sorge.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seele-und-sorge.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}