{"id":23096,"date":"2016-01-27T06:00:12","date_gmt":"2016-01-27T11:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=23096"},"modified":"2016-01-26T15:06:03","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T20:06:03","slug":"more-on-muslims-converting-to-christianity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2016\/01\/more-on-muslims-converting-to-christianity\/","title":{"rendered":"More on Muslims converting to Christianity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

International journalist Uwe Siemon-Netto, a confessional Lutheran, has more details about Muslims converting to Christianity<\/a>.\u00a0 He has published a compelling article in the Australian magazine Quadrant <\/em>that you need to read for yourself.\u00a0 Excerpt and link after the jump.\u00a0 (Tomorrow we\u2019ll post about the strange phenomenon of the Muslims dreaming about Jesus.)<\/p>\n

From Uwe Siemon-Netto, Where Muslim Dreams May Lead, Quadrant Magazine, via LinkedIn:<\/a><\/p>\n

Underreported by the secular media, a global phenomenon is underway: Muslims are converting to various Christian denominations in droves in every part of the world, but especially in Germany. In fairness, reporters must not be blamed for not getting a handle on this story because it cannot be quantified, for nobody keeps statistics. It can only be told on the basis of a wide array of occurrences, all of which are verifiable, though.<\/p>\n

\n

Prof. Thomas Schirrmacher, chairman of the Theological Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance, told me of a Roman Catholic archbishop he knows who baptises an average of 50 Muslims every month. \u201cA great number of Catholic priests do the same but without fanfare,\u201d said Rev. Albrecht Hauser, a retired Lutheran missionary and Islam specialist in Stuttgart. \u201cThey don\u2019t like to make this public fearing that ISIS might use this as a pretence to persecute Catholics in Asia and Africa even more.\u201d More and more EKD pastors, ignoring their denominational leaders\u2019 antagonism to mission and their preference for inter-religious dialogue, quietly christen former Muslims virtually every week. \u201cYou see these immigrants in many Sunday services. They listen attentively to the sermons, take notes, study the Bible and eventually present themselves to the pastor asking to enrol in catechism classes\u201d, said Schirrmacher\u2019s wife, Christine, a noted scholar of Islam.<\/p>\n

Churches not affiliated with the EKD often attract refugees even more easily. Baptist Pastor Mark A. Bachmann, an American, estimates that at least 2,000 became Christians during his 23-year ministry in Nuremberg. In the independent Lutheran Church of the Trinity in Berlin, Pastor Gottfried Martens baptises ten or more former Muslims on most Sundays. Six hundred converts from Iran and Afghanistan make up two-thirds of this thriving parish in a city ranking among the most secular in Europe. Martens\u2019 Sunday services often last more than two hours for it takes a long time for this large number of ex-Muslims to kneel down at the altar rail and receive the sacrament and blessing while the rest of the congregation of dark-skinned worshipers lustily chant 16th- and 17th-century Lutheran hymns they have learned in Berlin. \u201cFormer Muslims are particularly attracted to these hymns and our high liturgy\u201d, explained Pastor Martens, \u201cbecause they establish an intimacy with God they had not known in their previous faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

On a much smaller scale, Sister Rosemarie G\u00f6tz, a Protestant deaconess, started a tiny evangelical congregation of 15 in the predominantly Muslim district of Neuk\u00f6lln a few years ago; it soon swelled to nearly 150, almost entirely ex-Muslim. Close by, Rev. Sadegh Seperi, a Presbyterian minister, estimates that he has already baptised more than 500.<\/p>\n

Leipzig\u2019s independent Lutheran \u00e7hurch, also called Trinity, instituted German-language courses for immigrants, using Martin Luther\u2019s translation of the Bible as a textbook a few years ago. Next, the students asked to be instructed in the Christian faith and to be baptised. Now between ten and 20 new catechumens sign up for catechism classes every week, according to Rev. Hugo Gevers, a missionary from South Africa. \u201cThe amazing thing is that these converts are now doing ministry among the children of unchurched German slum dwellers here in Leipzig,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

[Keep reading. . .]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

International journalist Uwe Siemon-Netto, a confessional Lutheran, has more details about Muslims converting to Christianity.\u00a0 He has published a compelling article in the Australian magazine Quadrant that you need to read for yourself.\u00a0 Excerpt and link after the jump.\u00a0 (Tomorrow we\u2019ll post about the strange phenomenon of the Muslims dreaming about Jesus.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,24],"tags":[576,918,4346],"class_list":["post-23096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","category-islam","tag-conversions-to-christianity","tag-germany","tag-islam"],"yoast_head":"\nMore on Muslims converting to Christianity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"International journalist Uwe Siemon-Netto, a confessional Lutheran, has more details about Muslims 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