HAPPENINGS AROUND THE WORLD n HAPPENINGS AROUND THE WORLD n HAPPENINGS AROUND THE WORLD n

A

Sanctuary church leaders investigated IN GERMANY

Baptist pastor and a church deacon in Germany were investigated in 2015 for their role in providing sanctuary to asylum seekers in the Western European country.

Rodrigo Assis da Silva, pastor of Bethel International Baptist Church (BIBC), explained that “for over two years our church in Frankfurt has been effectively ministering to refugees. They are now over [a] quarter of the congregation, many already baptized members, and faithfully serving in various ministry teams.” The provision of a sanctuary for refugees has had a long tradition in Germany, despite a long debate

between supporters of the practice and those who oppose it. “The tradition of church asylum has been tolerated in Germany for years and is currently practiced by around 300 churches. However, it is still the subject of a big political debate, mainly among those in favor and against welcoming refugees.” Problems started when “the police opened an investigation against me and one of our deacons,” said da Silva, a vice president of the International Baptist Convention (IBC) and coordinator of the IBC Refugees Support Working Group. “They are accusing us of protecting illegal residents.” They sought legal representation and got support from both the IBC and the Union of Evangelical Free Churches in Germany (BEFG). Thomas Klammt, commissioner for immigrants and refugees for the BEFG, told the Baptist World

Alliance that “church asylum is generally accepted by the German government. There is even a committee where the Ministry for Migration and the churches are in constant dialogue about it.” Klammt said “BIBC is a member church of the German Baptist Union” and that “BEFG has guidelines for church asylum, which the BIBC has followed as far as we know.” There are only a few instances “where the police take measures against church asylum. We do not know why they have done so against the leaders of BIBC,” Klammt declared. “We fully support the BIBC and its leadership and therefore have sent protest letters to the Frankfurt Police in this case.” Though German Baptists received news “that the case has been closed on November 3,” there was no written confirmation. Da Silva told the BWA that “the last letter we received from the prosecutor’s office says that the

case is open and ongoing. Our lawyer has received no other official written information or updates from them, although they have been giving contradicting information to journalists by phone.”

22 BAPTIST WORLD MAGAZINE

Above: Worship at the Bethel International Baptist Church in Frankfurt, Germany. The pastor and a deacon were investigated for their role in providing sanctuary to asylum seekers.

For over two years our church has been ministering to refugees. They are now . . . many baptized members, and faithfully serving in ministry.

Provision of sanctuary for refugees has had a long tradition in Germany . . . . Problems started when police opened an investigation . . . accusing us of protecting illegal residents.