₦airaland Forum

Schwartz:
No multiple offerings: the offering basket is usually close to the exit door. In the three churches in three different cities I attendend I have never heard a call for offering. At the end of the service as you exit you may choose to drop an offering, any amount of your choice.

No special seat for anyone: No special seat or special recognition for any titled person or senior politician etc. Nobody cares if you got money or not. No one is treated differently by the pastor or any member. Persons called to take the mic few times are people who are involved in missionary works. To intimate the congregation on efforts so far. Some people here just live to do missionary work alone. Its amazing.

Every one is friendly: Its kind of intimidating being the only black around. The members want to know your name, what you do, where you are from and what's happening with you. Everyone introduces themselves with a smile and a handshake. They make you feel at home, like a brother. I remember when we were told to wait for Mexican food because the Mexicans in the church were celebrating their anniversary. After taking food, I sat at a corner to eat. Lo and behold everyone was calling me to come seat with them and eat. It felt nice

Schwartz:
No multiple offerings: the offering basket is usually close to the exit door. In the three churches in three different cities I attendend I have never heard a call for offering. At the end of the service as you exit you may choose to drop an offering, any amount of your choice.

No special seat for anyone: No special seat or special recognition for any titled person or senior politician etc. Nobody cares if you got money or not. No one is treated differently by the pastor or any member. Persons called to take the mic few times are people who are involved in missionary works. To intimate the congregation on efforts so far. Some people here just live to do missionary work alone. Its amazing.

Every one is friendly: Its kind of intimidating being the only black around. The members want to know your name, what you do, where you are from and what's happening with you. Everyone introduces themselves with a smile and a handshake. They make you feel at home, like a brother. I remember when we were told to wait for Mexican food because the Mexicans in the church were celebrating their anniversary. After taking food, I sat at a corner to eat. Lo and behold everyone was calling me to come seat with them and eat. It felt nice

toyinid78:
guys. I need ur help I want my. Church to. Grow. Its foursquare in. Iyana ipaja. I did a. Lot yet we never grow,I even. Made a. Movie. Under foursquare to make d church grow

Eke40seven:
This is similar to my experience in an English speaking church in Europe too. The members are from predominantly English speaking countries too; Americans, New Zealanders, Australia, South Africans (whites), Great Britain and the likes. What astounds me most is that, the church is located in a veeerrry well-to-do community, in Bavaria. However, you will not find anyone putting on expensive 'agbada' and the latest designs to intimidate, neither do they come along as proud or haughty. One grey haired man walked up to me and said "Hi! I am Joe!". In my mind, I was like, back in Nigeria, I will be crucified for not hitting my head on the floor in full prostration to magnify and call him chief elder prof something something and these guys live in a wealthy community! All top shots in one thing and well travelled but in their simplicity, they will sit humbly and wanna talk about everything with you! In Naija church, I know how many 'head bowings" and 'sir' or 'ma' I will have to answer for each words uttered and the opportunity to talk to the rich, a privilege.
Offering nko? They never mentioned. Back in Naija, I would have been forced to part with whatever you have in the name of seeds. You will think our pastors studied agric science or farming with the breeds and species of problems mentioned and solutions each seed portrays. We have reduced our churches to fund raising business enterprises and have lost focus of the main reasons why the churches were set up.
The pastor introduced himself in his name, had a good handshake, he would also involve himself in services too, everyone gets along. I was awed.
We all need to go back to the basics mehn!!

augster:
Na only nigeria churches dey make noise and congregation must contribute money cause pastor wan buy new car

titiakins:
Africa need to learn from these

Look at them!


You would think it a fellowship
And that will encourage people to come


Not thinking about what to wear or which car to drive in

thesicilian:
1. why are u moving from church to church?

2. as for the loudspeaker issue, the reason we use them here is that our congregations are usually very large sometimes running into thousands. Don't for forgot the largest church in the world which is over 50,000 capacity in a single auditorium is in Nigeria, how do you address such a crowd without a public address system? Thought I must confess though, there are a few small churches who have no business with loudspeakers but use them anyway...
I disagree with ur no two. d largest church in d world as u said, is it by no of its congregation world wide? or its auditorium? my bro, a church that has its general overseas Nigerian nd Nigeria as head quarter can't in any way b compare to d ones that has branches scattered all round d world. to d article author, I think u observed well but remember DAT ekuke dog isn't same as German Shepherd..... culture nd environments has role to play at times. don't no if DAT z wat causes buharia right ear deafness.

3. As for the one about pastors and their ego, well i think you're 99.995% right.

sapiosexual1:
My brother, I agree with the op on No 2, he is talking about external horn speakers and not internal speakers. Even the internal speakers can open the ears of the deaf. Yet the ministers shout into the mic. Our culture is soo off, we do everything with aggression.
I 've had to walk out of some church gatherings after changing seats thrice yet my head was vibrating with the speakers. No one should give me migraine in the name of religion

gypsey:
church is just a building just like shopping mall, nite club, gym, class room and hospitals. infact the vicar in my local church smokes a bit of ganja and drinks a shot of wiskey before he starts worship he claims it helps him concentrate on the mass.

jesuspikinjp:
op, one more thing they don't spend 5 to 7 hours in church like we do in nigeria, everything is brief. no time to waste time

Adortem:
You must speak German language well do you? Du spache Detsche?

dam4wummy:
How was the prayer session, was it like our CAC type?

dukeolumde:
Bro which part of Germany are u in? I heard it's a nice place to be.

kodded:
Deutschland ist ihre dauerhafte Basis ?

ichommy:
Schwartz

Nizza Bruder, Du fehlst uns auf Deutsch Thread. Wie geht's?

Schwartz:
The southern part. Yes, Germany is beautiful and very neat.

StoneColdBiceps:
hi, nice write up and experience. i biliv simplicity and personal conviction in d worship of God. but i want to disagree with some of your observation which i'll will not point out becos of time.

you are comparing two unequals. Germany and Nigeria. europe and Africa. Now, lets look at way of life here. its known that in Europe dey enjoy d 3 basic life necessities (i stand to be corrected) food, cloth and shelter, which we dnt have in Nigeria in particular. wen all this tings are in place there wont be room for showmanship/competition. In Nigeria, uneven distribution of weath brings competition. everybody fight to outdoor others, which lead us to rat race.when competition leave u struggle to have d 3 basics you will want to flaunt it, its economic and human nature.

Salvation is personal. personally i know my right from wrong in any gathering i find myself.

Some people have low self esteem, its wen they wear their best (with decorum) dat they can express themselves. others flaunt it because dey got it to outdo others sha.

The whites skin helps them to wear any kind of cloths and they still look ok, unlike blacks had to wear designers to bring out their best expression/look.

Africans live in community while Europeans live in isolation. so its a communal thing to invite members with loud speakers- though shld be minimized.

lastly, dont expect them not to call AK (Police)for you when you walk pass their neighbourhood...even though they share a cup of coffee with you in church.

Schwartz:
Hello All. Here is my experience at Church in Germany. So far I have attended 3 different churches in different cities here and I love it. This are churches by whites. Though there are one or two Naija churches around but personally I love this ones. I saw a lot of differences

No loud speakers outside: The norm has been during service, churches put on loud speakers outside so the neighborhood of the church hears every thing going on inside the church. To me I feel its noise pollution and unfair to neighbours because some times you have in one street alone in Naija over 5 churches blaring away. Here its so quiet outside the church building that if you don't get into the church you don't even notice there are people inside the church holding service.

Noone comes in gaily dressed: This people are so simple that they don't dress any different to church. If you don't have a nice Sunday wear no one cares. Picture attached was service today. Its summer now and people were wearing shorts to church! Also sleevless floral light dresses. There were no suits, no nice hats, no bogus jewelry, no nice shoes, no Italian bags, no one with nice hairdo. Its was just plain clothes, sneakers and sandals to church. You can't even differentiate between the rich and the poor. I remember in Naija when I used to take materials to my tailor to sew the latest dress so i can wear for church service. I remember all the outdoing and show off by members.

The pastor has no hairs around him: The simplicity of the whites is amazing. Even into the work of the ministry they carry it along. The pastor comes into church carrying his bag by himself. Goes round each member to greet you with a smile and a handshake and asks how you're doing. He is just a humble caring friend you can chat with and he prays for you. He reminds you there is a table he has set for coffee, tea or water. There is just nothing special about him. He just carries out the service normally. He has no special name like G.O or daddy etc. I just cant explain the simplicity of the 3 white pastors I met. At the end of the service they stand at the door for a goodbye handshake.

thesicilian:
1. why are u moving from church to church?

2. as for the loudspeaker issue, the reason we use them here is that our congregations are usually very large sometimes running into thousands. Don't for forgot the largest church in the world which is over 50,000 capacity in a single auditorium is in Nigeria, how do you address such a crowd without a public address system? Thought I must confess though, there are a few small churches who have no business with loudspeakers but use them anyway...

3. As for the one about pastors and their ego, well i think you're 99.995% right.

buharisbae

:
Catholic church do use inner loudspeaker buh op u b gay? y u snapping that mans ass??

Meesquared:
wo ist die deutsch Gruppe?

allhavesinned:
Point of Correction and For Your Information

Largest megachurches

Average weekly attendances are shown in parentheses:

Yoido Full Gospel Church, Seoul, South Korea (253,000)
Jotabeche Methodist P. Church, Santiago, Chile (150,000)
Gereja Bethany Indonesia (Bethany Christian Church Indonesia) "Graha Bethany Nginden", Surabaya, Indonesia (135.000)
Calvary Temple, Hyderabad, India (120,000)
Deeper Life Bible Church, Lagos, Nigeria (120,000)
Elim Church, San Salvador, El Salvador (117,000)
Nambu Full Gospel, Seoul, South Korea (110,000)
AOG Grace and Truth, Kyeonggi-do, South Korea (105,000)
Santuário Nossa Senhora Mãe de Deus - Theotókos, Brazil (100,000)
Myungsung Presbyterian Church, Gangdong, Seoul (90,000)
Kum Ran Methodist, Seoul, South Korea (80,000)
Vision de Futuro, Santa Fe, Argentina (70,000)
Ondas del Luz, Buenos Aires, Argentina (70,000)
Victory Christian Fellowship, Philippines (110,000)
Christ's Commission Fellowship, Philippines (60,000)
Young Nak Presbyterian Church, Seoul,South Korea (60,000)
Winners Chapel, Ota, Nigeria (50,000)
Soong Eui Methodist, Inchon, South Korea (47,000)
Lakewood Church, Houston, Texas,USA (45,000)
Church of the Highlands, Birmingham, Alabama, USA (40,000)
El Lugar de Su Presencia, Bogota, Colombia (32,000)

Holyfield1:
ja alles is sehr gut und ich bin gut heute. Verstehest du German wie?

Schwartz:
Gut, danke