"We were all moved and fulfilled by the day," Pastor Margit Zahn sums up.

For the first time, the church district of Hanau of the Evangelical Church of Kurhessen-Waldeck (EKKW) had invited to the baptism campaign this Saturday afternoon.

Anyone who wanted could have the Holy Sacrament of Baptism donated to them in a solemn setting, without having to register.

13 people of different ages accepted the offer.

Nine adults who had already been baptized received a personal blessing to commemorate their baptism.

According to Zahn, one person even came from afar to re-enter.

Luise Glaser-Lotz

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for the Main-Kinzig district.

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With the campaign "For you - experience baptism" we wanted to show people that there are many ways to feel the blessing in the Protestant church.

However, none of the "spontaneous" baptized people made the decision to be baptized on this occasion in passing, said Zahn, who is responsible for "ecclesiastical life support" in the church district of Hanau, among other things.

The aim is, for example, to find new ways of administering the church sacraments from baptism through marriage to burial.

Zahn, previously a pastor at the Hanau parish of St. John, occupies this task with half a pastor's position, the other part concentrates on the modern design of church services within the EKKW.

Baptism in the tower room

With the baptism campaign in St. John's Church, Zahn and several of his comrades-in-arms are not breaking new ground, there have already been baptism campaigns in various places.

But this has never happened in a church before.

For the three pastors and one pastor and the volunteers, there was no idle time.

The interest in simply and spontaneously receiving the sacrament was unexpectedly high.

The obligatory baptismal conversation was conducted in a condensed form, otherwise the baptisms went off without any compromises.

"My husband heard about the christening campaign on the radio," said the mother of a four-year-old boy about the presence of the family, as the organizers say in a review.

It was a good opportunity to have the son baptized, especially since his aunt was also baptized at the same time.

According to the information, the other people to be baptized were children, young people and adults from Hanau and the region.

A 75-year-old woman from the Netherlands had also come from Eberbach near Heidelberg, who had heard about the service of the Hanau church district from the radio.

Baptisms took place at the large baptismal font in the church room, in the tower room and in a small room with an outdoor terrace.

The baptismal motto could be selected on the spot and a small band offered musical accompaniment under the motto "A song for you".

The baptismal candle could not be missing either.

It was designed and manufactured together with those interested in baptism.

The guests were offered snacks, drinks and ice cream on a trolley in front of the door.

According to Pastor Miriam Weiner, all baptismal discussions were shaped by deep faith.

“Everyone was aware that by taking this step they were entering the Protestant Church.

People spoke openly about very personal things, their deepest fears and greatest hopes.” A young refugee was also baptized,

Strength and diversity of Christian forms

The baptism will not be the last in the Johanneskirche or in the church district.

Together we will consider how exactly the project will be continued.

For Zahn, the day was a good example of how the church can be more modern and engage more intensively with people and their needs.

Zahn has a number of other projects in progress or in the planning stage.

She is in talks with a restaurant where weddings could take place if couples so wished.

She also represents the evangelical church at wedding fairs.

With her offers, Zahn aims to show people the strength and diversity of Christian forms and to adapt them to individual wishes, as she says.

When we think about it together, something special often emerges that can be easily reconciled with church practice.

Because often people were looking for something intense in their lives, something that would be remembered.

Zahn wants to give such Christian moments, although her primary concern is not to win new members for the congregations.