44th Day - August 21: Worship and Conversation with Bishop's Representative

Today on Sunday it was early to get up again. Because in the Danube village of Iza, where I was allowed to stay in the community room, there is only worship every 2nd and 4th Sunday in the beautiful village church. So I was already invited for breakfast at 7.30 am by Helena - the sacristan in Iza - and could ride with her by car to the worship service in the district town of Komarno. Actually, my plan was to ride my bike to Komarno and symbolically say goodbye to Slovakia after the worship service and go to Hungary. However, rain was forecasted for the whole day on Sunday, so I had to make a new plan. That's why I decided to stay another night in Iza. We left shortly after quarter past seven. Before Helena started her car, she said a silent prayer. This is how she lives her evangelical faith: before every car ride - even if it's just a short distance - she says a prayer. I was very impressed by that.

At the worship service in Komarno, I was welcomed and the substitute pastor - who is also a staff member at the Bishop's Office of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Slovakia - asked me to say a greeting after the sermon, which I gladly did. Since he understands some German, he translated my contribution accordingly. Between 25-30 people out of the around 200 evangelical members in the city and surrounding area attended the worship service.

After the worship service, there was a very interesting conversation with the bishop's representative at the church cafe. Unfortunately, the biggest challenge from the perspective of the national church is the issue of money. Up to now, the state has been paying the not very good salaries of the pastors, compared to a normal worker in a factory or private company. In the coming years, the state contribution will be gradually reduced and the congregations are asked to raise their own funds. In Komarno, the annual amount is 20 euros. But not everyone is willing to pay this church contribution because the state has been financing the salaries. Large congregations have an advantage over the 'weak' rural congregations, which mainly consist of older people who already receive a low pension from the state anyway. In the future, some rural congregations will lose their pastors. Once again, it becomes clear in what opulent situation we are in Germany.

We could have talked for a long time about the challenges of the Protestant Church in Slovakia, but after almost an hour, the church cafe was over. We drove back to Iza and Helena dropped me off at a friendly member of the congregation and his family, who had put together an extra program for the rest of the day. I was invited for lunch again, even though I actually wanted to write on my blog in the community room. I already briefly met the father the day before, who also knew some German. In the afternoon, we visited a historic Roman castle near Iza together as a family and they took me to Komarno again and showed me their city. Only after 6 pm could I go back to the community room and take another look at the beautiful altarpiece in the style of Marc Chagall.

Hardly had I been there for 15 minutes, I was told that Helena and her husband were waiting for me again to spend the evening with me and have a glass of wine. Meanwhile, it was raining quite heavily and I was glad to spend another night in Iza. Relatively exhausted from the day, I could only go to 'my' bed in the community house after 9 pm. I lacked the strength and motivation to write on my blog and with the pouring rain, I went to bed early and fell asleep quickly.