Scaffolding wraps part of Cologne Cathedral’s Gothic facade, and Johannes Schröder sees a sermon in it.
“The cathedral will never be finished. It will always be worked on,” Schröder said. “Work will only stop when Jesus comes back, which I think is a great symbol for us Christians.”
Schröder, a practical theology lecturer and head of the Institute for Theology and Music at Bible Seminary Bonn — known as Bibelseminar Bonn in Germany — has given his second career to that kind of work. His intern, Philipp Sinn, 25, is just beginning it as he trains to be a pastor. Together, they show what ministry looks like in a country where faith is hard to find and harder to keep.
“This is a very liberal country,” Schröder said. “But there is still somebody here who believes that Jesus actually walked on the water and that the blood of Christ actually meant something. It’s not a symbol. It’s sufficient.”
Both men connected with the Tennessee Men’s Chorale during its October mission trip to Germany where it sang in public squares and was part of the BSB commencement ceremony Oct. 3. The Tennessee Baptist Convention has a Partnership Missions agreement with BSB.
From airplanes to worship
Schröder did not plan to teach. From 2004 to 2014, he worked as an aircraft electronics technician for Lufthansa Technik in Frankfurt. He liked the job, he said, and he liked the travel.
During those years he also led music in his church as a volunteer, and he began sensing God asking him to change course. His circle of churches had no theological framework for why Christians worship the way they do, he said. He saw a gap, and he felt God tell him to help fill it.
“I tried to find a seminary in Germany that has that kind of combination of theology and music. It wasn’t there.”
He said God led him to Vernon Whaley, then Chairman for the Center for Worship at Liberty University and now professor of music and worship at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Whaley encouraged Schröder to enroll at Liberty to study worship.
Schröder served as a teaching assistant in Liberty’s School of Music. He also completed an internship as an instrumental minister at Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, Tennessee. Schröder has lectured at Bible Seminary Bonn since 2019 and serves as a pastor and worship overseer at Evangelical Free Church Cologne.
The seminary lets local churches set its agenda. The worship program began when pastors in the seminary’s network asked for one. In October 2019, Schröder helped found the Institute for Theology and Music at the seminary.
“It’s not just something we say,” Schröder said. “It’s something we live.”
His convictions guide both jobs. “Human beings are created for worship,” he said. “We experience our dignity, fulfillment and purpose only in the worship of Yahweh, as revealed in the Bible.”
He measures his teaching by who comes next.
“You have to reproduce, not just produce,” he said. “Everything you do, look to somebody else who can do it.”
A faith of his own
Sinn grew up south of Frankfurt, went to children’s services on Sundays, and took part in the full life of his church. At 13, he went to a Christian camp and realized he could not borrow his parents’ faith.
“That’s when I decided I wanted to be friends with Jesus and go all in with him,” he said. He was baptized soon after.
After high school, he enrolled in Bible school and discovered he wanted to work with people. He now studies theology and plans to become a pastor. He met Schröder through Schröder’s brother, who attends Sinn’s home church.
Sinn’s internship is closely akin to a mentorship, doing whatever is needed while growing in his understanding of what it means to be a minister. Seeing ministry up close matters, Sinn said.
“You have role models, and you can better learn if you see it, not only learn it with a theory from my school,” he said.
He found more role models in the Tennessee Men’s Chorale. He listened as pastors in the group described how they lead churches and what struggles those churches face.
“It’s encouraging to see that they also bring me in,” Sinn said. One singer gave him advice about life and a future marriage. The group’s boldness also stuck with him.
“They just shared the gospel, and they are pretty open to share,” he said. “That’s something I can learn from.”
Reaching a thinking nation
Sharing faith in Germany takes a different approach, Sinn said, because Germans think things through.
“They are all thinking so much,” he said.
He starts by asking questions and learning what people believe, he said. Conversations often become discussions of ideas rather than a presentation of the gospel. He wants to move beyond that.
Many Germans, he said, talk about God’s love but stop there.
“You can do whatever you want if it’s with love,” Sinn said. “I think they mix up the word love and what it actually means.”
Sinn asked fellow Baptists to pray for German church leaders.
“It’s pretty hard for leaders nowadays to stay focused in their church because so many different opinions are coming in,” he said.
Sinn believes Germany stands on the edge of revival, and he points to history.
“Every time people were before revival, things got better and better, and then suddenly there was a change, and people realized we have to go back to the roots,” Sinn said. “I’m excited for that. And until that comes,” he said, “I just want to serve and give glory to God.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Zoë Watkins and originally published by the Baptist and Reflector.
