Durrington link with Münchberg
We have a very special link with the people of Münchberg in Bavaria, Germany. Since the link started in 1996, well over 200 individuals from each community have visited, shared homes, worshipped together, attended special family events, and enjoyed a wonderful friendship.
It all started with a desire within our church membership to grow our awareness of God's wider family. Shortly afterwards, our then Vicar, Fr Bob Aiton, met Suzanne Kasch, Münchberg's Lutheran Pastor, at one of the Coburg Conferences where representatives of the Diocese of Chichester, evangelical Lutheran Church in Berlin-Brandenburg, the Lutheran Diocese of Bayreuth, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bamberg meet to continue the Christian leadership of Bishop Bell and Dietrich Bonoeffer during WWII. Meetings were arranged in Münchberg and Durrington and the link has grown from then onwards. Many other churches in Sussex have similar links.
We meet every two years either in Durrington or Münchberg . The hosts meet and work together to build a programme and to expand their community to find new host families and those who wish to join in the events. We try to involve as many new families as possible.
The guests are bonded as they prepare their visit and the parish is involved in preparing small gifts to take to the church and host families. The community is strengthened between the 2 churches.