My friend Robert has just returned from the German Protestant Kirchentag in Stuttgart.
'The Kirchentag is a Lay movement', the organisation's website tells us. 'It grows from the grass roots and is not prescribed from above. Thousands of visitors are also active co-workers. In this way, each Kirchentag becomes a festival for all. Nationality and religious allegiance are irrelevant. Even though the huge event bears the official name "Protestant".'
Robert emailed: 'The Kirchentag ('The Church Congress') had a vast programme for the expected 100,000 participants, and transformed the city of Stuttgart into a place of political, social and ecological debate, interwoven with spirituality and cultural programmes. In halls, gyms, churches, and arenas; and in the public squares, market places, and streets. This large-scale civil society forum involved a wide public extending well beyond the scope of a church event, with mixed race, mixed sex, mixed age, mixed religion and none.'
One of the highlights for Robert was joining the 10,000 capacity crowd in the Porsche Arena for a keynote speech by Federal Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel. Her personal qualities stood out: 'There was a directness and to the point and clarity in her words (said the translator), and in tone more a 'confession' of opinion and decisions, a caring for the people in the arena, and for her Country. Not something we get readily from current leading British Politicians, as I was reminded later on the BBCWorldTV Service catching George Osborne 'smirking', presumably at the opposition but to us too through TV, as he announced further austerity.'
