19th Day - July 27th: Confident Protestant Minority in Rybnik

After the rainy and unsuccessful day in Racibórz, I was curious about what awaited me today in Rybnik. I took the supposedly short route of 40km with a detour along the Oder River and a tributary, saving myself about 150 meters in altitude but having to cycle 20km more. I prefer more kilometers on relatively flat terrain than struggling over mountains - that's how I planned the routes now. Before Rybnik, I passed an ugly reservoir before finding the center and also quickly finding the Protestant church. Coincidentally, the sexton was there, who could speak a few words of German and immediately called the pastor, who spoke very good German because he held services in German at his first position in Pomerania for the few remaining Germans in the Baltic Sea region. I was very pleased about that, and communication was very, very easy as a result. He told me that the church in Rybnik is an old German church which was also consecrated Protestant 301 years ago. On average, about 150 of the around 350 congregation members come to the church service. He said the church is mostly full. I couldn't believe it and thought I misheard, but the pastor confirmed the number again. Certainly, with around 130,000 inhabitants, the Protestants are hardly noticeable, but the fact that so many of the registered members come to the church service impressed me. For the children, there is the so-called "Sunday school" every Sunday, in addition to the church service, and there are additional group offers during the week. The biggest challenge after Corona is to bring the active community life back to the level before the pandemic. Although there are only about 5 baptisms and 5 funerals per year, the membership number remains stable. When asked about "what it's like with a 90% Catholic majority", he spoke of the Protestant Church in Poland as a confident minority that is not at all envious of the other denomination.

Unfortunately, he had to say goodbye because his grandson will be baptized the next day and there are still many preparations to be made.

Because the weather wasn't too hot and I had the whole afternoon, I decided to go to Zory, which is about 18km away. According to the list, there is also a Protestant community with a church there. In the center, I saw a stand of Jehovah's Witnesses, who have more than twice as many members in Poland as the Protestant-Augsburg Church.
After a little more than an hour, I reached the "small town" with 60,000 inhabitants and the church was not far from the center. Here too, I was lucky - or was it God's will, I can't say - the pastor was there and opened the church. This community has about 800 congregation members in the city and the surrounding area, and his second community in Wodzisla Slaski has another 200 members. The church service in Zory is relatively "modern". All songs and texts are projected on a large screen. There are also children and youth groups, and during the holidays there are camps in the nearby Beskids. Again, I was impressed by the vibrant community work. Then he invited me to stay overnight in the children's service room, to use the community kitchen, and if I wanted, to shower, which I gratefully accepted again. I rested and then visited the old historical (Upper Silesian) city center, bought some things, and returned and enjoyed the evening in the community center.