Being a blessing for the neighbourhood

Barry Sloan

The scaffolding on the Brühl announces that something is happening here. Some houses have already been renovated. Others are still empty. However, a shop window has recently started to show more life on the pedestrianised boulevard. "Inspire" is written next to a dandelion on the window panes. Pastor Barry Sloan is already waiting behind it, sitting comfortably at his laptop. Together with other volunteers, he has set up a meeting place.
He is visibly proud of the wood panelling on the walls in fresh shabby-look green and blue tones, the self-made counter, the green-painted corner cupboards and tables on old sewing machine legs. "We built everything ourselves," he explains with a slight accent. A large welcome sign adorns the entrance area. Otherwise, there are all kinds of sayings, book pages and lovely decorations on the walls.

You feel right at home here. What is this place: a café, club rooms? What are your plans for this place?
Barry Sloan: We opened our Inspire space on 17 January. Our motto is: Touching hearts. Move people. Revitalise Brühl. We are eight volunteers who have refurbished and designed these rooms. We want the rooms to be used now. On Sunday, we invited people to an information evening so that neighbours could meet and get involved. There were lots of ideas: Sewing courses, language courses, travelogues, lectures, acoustic café. We believe that if we can touch people's hearts, if we can inspire them, then they will get moving themselves and help shape Brühl.

Your accent reveals that you are not originally from Chemnitz. How long have you known the city?
I was born in Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland and worked as a pastor for the Protestant Methodist Church there. I was sent to Germany by my church and came here in 1998.

Did you have a say in which city you went to?
Yes and no. I've always had a heart for Europe. Then the bishop invited me here to Germany. There was an opportunity to serve in East Germany. When I was at the language school, he called me and said: Come to Chemnitz. I first had to look at the map. Where is Chemnitz? I had never heard of Chemnitz. I then served three congregations for 13 years: here in Chemnitz in the congregation of the Church of the Redeemer in Hilbersdorf, in Augustusburg and Flöha. Originally it was supposed to be three years. Now it has become almost 17 years.

You work for the evangelisation ministry (what a difficult word!) What do you want to achieve with your job?
I am a pastor and evangelist. I'm not talking about the American TV evangelist, but about the good news. I see my job as taking the good news of God's love into the world. Now in the evangelisation work (it comes easily to him) in the Evangelical Methodist Church - what a tongue twister (laughs) - I travel around and support churches in fulfilling their actual mission. Namely: Look out into your neighbourhood. And see how you can be a blessing there. How does the neighbourhood benefit from your presence?

Now we are right in the middle of it. In a place that perfectly describes exactly that: Inspire. How can this be a blessing for the Brühl neighbourhood?
We want to make our contribution to more life on the Brühl. There are various players on the Brühl. When we heard that the city was planning to revitalise the Brühl, we said: let's get involved. Let's make our contribution. I moved to this neighbourhood with my wife because we wanted to volunteer here. I'm not here for work. I just always found Brühl interesting, this long boulevard - really beautiful. Of course, it's sad that it looks depressing, but it has so much potential. I met here with a handful of other people from different churches in Chemnitz, including Ulrich Täuber. We had the same vision: no Christian subculture or parallel society, but we want to be on the road together. With like-minded people, but also with people who think differently. This is our meeting place. The GGG and Brühl manager Dr Luczak immediately supported the idea. A space where we can build community. Where people from the neighbourhood have the opportunity to get to know each other and spend time together. We want to go out into the neighbourhood and shape life.

Nevertheless, you are regularly drawn away from Chemnitz. You have written a book about your pilgrimage. It's an exciting journey from Ireland to Italy. Why do you undertake such an adventurous journey?
I was given a sabbatical by my church. Just when I got this new assignment, I thought: Now I want to prepare myself. I thought: Ok, I'm going on a pilgrimage. By chance, I came across this St Columban on the internet. I knew the name, but not much more. And when I read on, I thought: That's interesting. He was from Northern Ireland and travelled through Europe on a mission with twelve other monks in the 6th century. They founded small settlements everywhere. And these small settlements gave rise to cities such as St Gallen, Würzburg, Regensburg, Luxeuil in France and others. 1400 years later, I thought to myself, it was you who went on a mission to the Germanic tribes (smiles). However, there is no official pilgrimage route. There are only certain places and towns where some of the old monasteries still exist. And I wanted to visit them. As I only had three weeks and wanted adventure, I set off hitchhiking. I never intended to write a book. But so many humorous, funny, profound and fascinating things happened to me. I used to write in my diary, just for myself, and then I thought: OK, I'll write it in more detail. When I got home, I sent it in and the publisher took it. Now we're in the process of making a second edition.

After the adventure back in Chemnitz - how did it feel?
Chemnitz is home for me. When I received my new appointment from my bishop after 13 years as a pastor in Hilbersdorf, I knew that I would be travelling all over Germany. I could choose a city anywhere in Germany and live there. From a purely geographical and perhaps sensible point of view, it would have been to look for a city in Erfurt or in the centre of Germany - in terms of travel. But we really feel called to stay in Chemnitz. It's our second home. It has become home. And even when I'm travelling in Germany on business, I exhale when I come to Chemnitz. I feel at home here. This is my home. It was the same when I was on a pilgrimage. I learnt a lot. It was nice to be on the road, but it's also always nice to come home.

Do you have to encourage the people of Chemnitz?
Yes, I think so. I think the people of Chemnitz are too negative. I notice among many young people I talk to that this is slowly changing. But still: Chemnitz really has a lot of potential and is already a beautiful city with lots of opportunities. You have everything here: Culture, small pubs, cinema, theatre, art collections. I would be delighted if the people of Chemnitz simply became more optimistic. I also see that as a task. I want to encourage people, give them hope. I want to encourage them to take things into their own hands, to get things moving.