Monday, May 23, 2005
About All Saints (Stephanus Yowono)
Erry-Stephanusus Yowono JL. PAM I /11 RT 14/8,
Cempaka Baru, Jakarta 10 650, INDONESIA
Dear Konrad,
It is very sad to hear the news from you that All Saints Church, where I spent 4 years, will be closed down. Together with my family, I really have a good memory of this church. When I came to Berlin in 2001, the first thing I wanted to know was a Catholic Church where masses were conducted in English. When I moved to Grunewald, I and my family became regular churchgoers to All Saints. There we found a sweet environment, friendly and caring relationship among the parishioners. All Saints Church became a melting point for all people coming from abroad and Germans from Berlin. If I may say, it was a small United Nations community with the common platform of Roman Catholic faith. My daughter was serving as an altar girl and another child of ours was baptized in that church. As Berlin is now the capital of Germany, I am absolutely sure that there will many people or expatriates in the future who need a place where they are not only looking for a place to pray but also to meet and share with other expatriates and Germans about everything they would like to know from A to Z in Berlin. On the other hand, as a committed Catholic, I am also worried to see the declining attendance on Sunday masses in Germany. I would like to see Christianity becoming the focal point in everything, especially in Germany. Therefore, maintaining the existing All Saints Church would be a good image, especially to people from other continents, showing that Christianity is still existing in Germany. The question always comes from my Indonesian friends, where Islam is in majority: "Why are the churches empty?" I hope that this question will not be followed by "Why are the churches closed?". So hopefully the continued existence of our All Saints Church will always spread the spirit it has given to so many people from different parts of the world.
Best regards to Gaby and the children.
Stephanus Yowono
http://www.all-saints-berlin.de/
Cempaka Baru, Jakarta 10 650, INDONESIA
Dear Konrad,
It is very sad to hear the news from you that All Saints Church, where I spent 4 years, will be closed down. Together with my family, I really have a good memory of this church. When I came to Berlin in 2001, the first thing I wanted to know was a Catholic Church where masses were conducted in English. When I moved to Grunewald, I and my family became regular churchgoers to All Saints. There we found a sweet environment, friendly and caring relationship among the parishioners. All Saints Church became a melting point for all people coming from abroad and Germans from Berlin. If I may say, it was a small United Nations community with the common platform of Roman Catholic faith. My daughter was serving as an altar girl and another child of ours was baptized in that church. As Berlin is now the capital of Germany, I am absolutely sure that there will many people or expatriates in the future who need a place where they are not only looking for a place to pray but also to meet and share with other expatriates and Germans about everything they would like to know from A to Z in Berlin. On the other hand, as a committed Catholic, I am also worried to see the declining attendance on Sunday masses in Germany. I would like to see Christianity becoming the focal point in everything, especially in Germany. Therefore, maintaining the existing All Saints Church would be a good image, especially to people from other continents, showing that Christianity is still existing in Germany. The question always comes from my Indonesian friends, where Islam is in majority: "Why are the churches empty?" I hope that this question will not be followed by "Why are the churches closed?". So hopefully the continued existence of our All Saints Church will always spread the spirit it has given to so many people from different parts of the world.
Best regards to Gaby and the children.
Stephanus Yowono
http://www.all-saints-berlin.de/
