Creating community was his goal
Last sunday, pastor and dean michael schupferling solemnly entered his marktgraitz church "zur heiligsten dreifaltigkeit" for the last time with many colleagues in office. Pastor schupferling, who will in the future lead the parish st. Theresia in erlangen, said that he sees this mass more as a thanksgiving service than a farewell. However, the mood was already marked by a certain melancholy.
The songs of the church choir and the children’s choir, which together with the organist thomas bahr and the singing community marktgraitz-mannsgereuth musically decorated the service "neither fear nor sorrow can separate us" or "our pastor, he must go" expressed this.
In his last speech, the outgoing clergyman explained that he had always strived to create community. Even when he was criticized for being in contact with people who were not so christian, he never lost sight of it. Schupferling: "saying goodbye has to be learned, but at some point we have to say goodbye to everything, and in the case of pastors, this is already prescribed at the beginning of a term of office. One who does not manage this, does not have a good wire to his flock." This good wire, however, had grown steadily during his 13 years in marktgraitz.
"A pastor does not own a parish and a parish does not own a pastor", said schupferling, nevertheless it is important that both go their way together. The goal for both is not to lose the center of the faith of jesus christ in the future, even after such a separation, and to remain united in prayer and friendship. In times when the churches are not doing so well, this also means to pull together in order to make the church in the future more tangible. He thanked all those who had been there for the parish and supported him during the 13 years.
At the end of the service, tanja schilling, chairwoman of the parish council, thanked the clergyman for the wonderful time he had spent in the parish of marktgraitz. With the words "mr. Pfarrer, don’t forget the graatzer" she presented him with a walking stick that he was going to use for his planned pilgrimage to" santiago de compostela" can certainly make good use of.
Mayor jochen partheymuller praised the work of michael schupferling over the past 13 years. "A friend is someone you reach out to, someone who reciprocates, and someone whose heart is touched in the process." This has always been the case for him personally and for the parish. As an extra sign, he presented him with a bouquet of flowers and a hat for the pilgrimage, so that the solar-sensitive spots on his head would also be protected. He was also bid farewell with warm and humorous words by deputy dean georg birkel, anita rauch from the deanery council of lichtenfels, evangelical dean stefanie ott-fruhwald, regional dean thomas teuchgraber, district administrator christian meibner, redwitz mayor christian mrosek, church administrator arnold kalt and altar server ann kathrin schilling.
Gunter dippold, first chairman of the lichtenfels district association of caritas, summed up the farewell speeches as follows: "you always had an open ear for everyone, and in a time that was not easy for the church, you always showed a positive attitude and accepted and mastered all challenges. In short, in french: it fits already!" Afterwards the faithful and the marktgraitz associations had the opportunity to say goodbye to pastor michael schupferling in the parish hall.
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