Profile

The Berlin Mission is a ministry of the Evangelical Church in Berlin, Brandenburg and Silesian Upper Lusatia; other sponsors are the Evangelical Church of Anhalt, the Jerusalemsverein, the German East Asia Mission and the Gossner Mission.

The Mission has its origins in the evangelical missionary movement of the early 19th century. It uses the positive and critical experiences of its history and brings them into the current discussion about mission.

Today, the Berlin Mission initiates and accompanies encounters and partnerships worldwide, so that people come into relation with one another, learn from each other and share with each other. The Berlin Mission is committed to peace and justice, to overcoming violence and to the integrity of creation. Together with its partner churches, the Berlin Mission stands for a living Christian witness worldwide. It gives a voice to the voiceless and always strives to meet all people with understanding, sensitivity and openness.

The Berlin Mission cultivates a respectful and at the same time critical dialogue, both in ecumenical and interreligious contexts.

Selected areas of work

The school center Talitha Kumi in Palestine is an example of the work of the Berlin Mission and its ecumenical approach. “Girl stand up!” – the translation of the Bible verse (Mk 5:41) – is the name and program of the school. It was founded in 1851 as a school and home for Arab girls and has developed into a large educational center on the outskirts of Beit Jala near Bethlehem under the auspices of the Berlin Mission since 1975. From kindergarten to high school graduation – and beyond in a hotel management school – the school center offers young people a perspective for the future, whether in an academic profession or through vocational training.

At Talitha Kumi, learning with head, heart and hand means peace and environmental education, teaching tolerance and respect among members of different denominations and religions, and promoting girls and boys to become self-confident, self-determined personalities. The school is one of the 140 German schools abroad supported by the German government; since 2013, students have been able to take the German International Abitur Examination (DIAP) in addition to the Palestinian degree. Following evaluation by a federal-state commission, Talitha Kumi has borne the seal of approval “Excellent German School Abroad” since 2017.

Partner Relations

As the Ecumenical Center for the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia and the Evangelical Church of Anhalt, the Berlin Mission today maintains relations not only with its former mission churches in southern Africa and Tanzania, but also with numerous other partner churches – from Sweden to Taiwan, from Cuba to the Volga. The Mission is thus involved on almost every continent, whether with development projects, in theological exchange or with the Ecumenical Volunteer Program, which has been supplemented for a few years by a domestic program: Young people from partner churches come to Germany for a year to get to know the country and church life.

Domestically, the Mission supports lived ecumenism with its many years of expertise. Today, this wealth of experience from 200 years also benefits the Interreligious Dialogue, the areas of Migration and Integration work or Missionary Service – tasks that the Berlin Mission successfully fulfills as the ecumenical center of the two sponsoring churches.

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Berlin Mission
Georgenkirchstr. 70
10249 Berlin

Tel.: +49 30 24344-123
Fax: +49 30 24344-124

E-Mail schreiben
www.berliner-missionswerk.de/english-information/