Halle...1200 years old

By Kyle Small -





Well, in previous posts, i mentioned that i would travel to Halle. Halle is the home of Pietism, the roots of the Evangelical Covenant Church. My main purpose in going was to see the school started by August Hermann Francke, as well as his church. The difficulty was that at the same time, Halle was celebrating 1200 years of life. It seemed that there were 1000 people per every year of Halle's history. It was crowded; however halle celebrated in cosmopolitan style, highlighing music from around the world. It appeared that Halle's celebration sought unify its connection with the world.

We made it to the Francke school, and it is anmazing how significant its work has been throughout the world. First, Francke trained women and disabled children in Latin and the Scriptures. Secondly, as the school grew it inspired students to serve god in the World. Through the alumni travels, many lands heard the word of the gospel through word and deed. In the introduction to the school, it states that Francke sought to educate students for social action with christliche Geist - social action with Christian Spirit. Francke's famous quote is, "for God's glory and neighbor's good."

Finally, when we went to visit the church, a young "ranger scout" gave us a tour. The original church burned some years ago, but it has been rebuilt, including a self-standing roof (due to the weakness of the exterior walls). Currently, the church continued with the missionary fervor through a Pentecostal congregation - I was assured that women served in leadership. (Ironically, another scout leader questioned my position on women and baptism first). It appears that the current congregatin has very little idea of the history contained within the building.

The pictures are of the school. I will post church pitctures later.

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