CHURCHES IN TÜBINGEN
by Tumelo Peter Morwe, UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA

Even though churches are a mutual place of visit for many people, most of them go to church for different reasons. Some go to church to see the beautiful building and decorations while others go to church to hear or sing the soulful hymns, some go church to pray while others go to church to hear the sermon. But I am amongst those who go to church for a “divine experience”. By that I mean a feeling or encounter that one can only get in a church where certain things are done a certain way. During the course of my stay in Tubingen I visited a number of churches to get that “divine experience” and in this report I share in detail everything I experienced at every one of those churches.

On our first Sunday morning in Tubingen I visited a church named Stiftskirche which is protestant church. I arrived a bit late in the service and I found a congregation of about 100 people sitting and singing hymns which they all read from a hymn book. With no command of the German language it was difficult for me to sing along or participate in any way during the service because everything was said and conducted in German. But I purposed in my heart that language would not stand in the way of getting my “divine experience” so I stayed. Finally my favorite part of every church service (the sermon) began and even though I could not understand anything the preacher said I was captivated by his certainty and assurance in the words he spoke. During the sermon I looked around and I noticed that a good number of people were asleep. The service ended and I went back home but I had not gotten my divine experience.

That same Sunday in the evening I visited a church named ‘International Christian Church’ and the Pastor of the church is from the United States of America. The evening service on Sundays is for Bible study and it is conducted in English so I was happy that I could understand everything that was said and I could participate in the service songs and activities. The Bible Study was conducted as a dialogue; everyone read a certain passage of scripture and it was discussed by everyone present in the Bible study. Food was offered during the course of the service and I was bit happy about that as wellJ. The service eventually ended and my reflection was that I enjoyed but did not get what I went there for, my divine experience. The church had another service on Thursday of the same week which I attended but still I did not get it.

On Wednesday 24 January 2018 in the evening, I visited a church named TOS Gemeinde which is an evangelical church. The service that day was for students and it was held at one of the students’ houses. It was conducted in German but they had provided an English translator to tell me everything in English. They began with introductions and drinks and from there they began singing Christian songs. Even though the service was conducted in German, the songs were sang in English. We began singing faster songs which we danced to and had fun in doing so. From there we sang slower songs which they termed ‘worship songs’. As I sang along to these worship songs I closed my eyes and lifted my hands and in that moment I got exactly what I came for, a divine experience! I felt that special feeling that one gets only when the presence of God is perceived. It was a beautiful thing to experience. I couldn’t stay for the whole service because I had other things to attend to but the little time I spent in that service was the pinnacle of my church experience in Germany.