Albrecht Bengel-Haus

The process of reaching Germany for Christ is a complex task. On the one hand, some advocate a “missions” approach that advocates evangelization and the establishing of new churches. On the other hand, others emphasize working within the existing church structures that already exist to bring about renewal from within. A couple of weeks ago I had the unique opportunity to visit and institution who focus on this second way. Named after the famous 17th century German theologian, Albrecht Bengel, the Albrecht Bengel House in Tübingen (about 45 min. south of Korntal) serves students studying to become Protestant pastors in the "Landeskirche" or, as it is usually translated, "State Church."

In order to understand the ministry of the Bengel House a bit more, a little background on the German church might help. There are roughly 60 million people in Germany (out of 83 million) could be classified as “Christian.” Of these “Christians, about 30 million are Roman Catholic and 30 million Protestant. And while among the Protestants there exists a wide array of denominations, the vast majority still belong to the Protestant State Church. The name “State Church” does mean that the government runs the church. Rather, the government participates in the administration of the church by collecting the money needed to support it through the taxes of members (both Catholic and Protestant) and by providing training for pastors and priests at the state universities.

In order to become part of the State Church, one need to have only been baptized as a baby and have gone through confirmation in the early teens. After these two steps, the majority of these cultural Christians rarely darken the church door (with the exception of Christmas) or seek a meaningful personal relationship with God. To make matters even more difficult, the state universities, which are the only venue where students can be trained as pastors, tend to be very liberal in their approach to the Scriptures and often end up damaging the faith of students wanting to serve God.

Enter the Bengel House. Their basic mission is to provide spiritual guidance for students at the state university in Tübingen so that they remain true to their faith through the onslaught of higher-critical teaching they receive. The hope is that they can keep “believing” students spiritually strong through their theological studies so that they can go on to bring about a revival from within the churches to which already the bulk of cultural Christians already belong.

Although it is called “house” in German, the Bengel House complex consists of two large dormitory-style buildings that house about 100 theology students. In addition to dorm rooms, there is also a chapel, dining hall, classrooms and a decent sized theological library. To be a member of the Bengel-House, a student doesn’t need to live there. Rather, they agree to take one (or two) classes concurrent to the regular theological studies that provide an alternative to the liberal perspectives they are exposed to at the university. As a member they can take part in chapel services, prayer groups and other activities that seek to keep their Christian faith alive.

What was I doing at the Bengel House? No, I am not secretly going for another theological degree!! One of the guest lecturers here at the AWM (a former professor of mine from Columbia International University) gave a guest lecture there on the Emerging Church and I had the privilege of driving him there. Before he gave his evening lecture we had dinner with the director (Dr. Rolf Hille) and his wife where we both learned more about this ministry.

So that’s the Bengel House in a nutshell. If you want more information (in German, but they do have pictures) following this link: http://www.bengelhaus.de.

Do you have any questions? What do you think about it? I’d love to hear.

Comments

[Markus]

Actually, I prefer the "Pretzel Haus" for Breakfast :-)
I'm not sure as to the exact amount, but I imagine 100+ considering those who live in the dorms.
I asked Dr. Hille about their relationship with the university and he said that it has gotten better over the years. When he first started the work was viewed as an "enemy" one. Now they are more accepting and see the Bengel Haus as a place where students get training in practical ministry.

--Markus

[Svigel]

Markus:

I've never heard of the Bengel Haus. (At first glance I thought you were writing an essay about a Bagel House where you liked to breakfast.)

This is exciting. I wonder how many students are associated with the Bengel Haus, and also how are they viewed by the University faculty if they are members of the Bengel Haus.

---Svigel