The bass booms through the dark hall. Spotlight glides over the crowd. Hands shoot up and sway to the rhythm of the music. Anyone expecting organ music and light-flooded windows at the “International Christian Fellowship” (ICF) service in Munich will be disappointed. While more and more people are turning their backs on the two large regional churches, ICF has been growing since it was founded more than 20 years ago and is particularly popular with young people – which could also have something to do with the place where the service takes place every Sunday.
What started as a small gathering in a pub in Schwabing has over time become a weekly event. After several location changes – first in the Giesinger Bahnhof cultural center, later in the cinema at Sendlinger Tor – the ICF has now landed in the Munich nightclub Neuraum on Arnulfstrasse. The aim of the unusual offer: to convince people who are not religious of the Christian faith. The church has to come to the people, they say.
It is surprising that the ICF of all companies invites people to a club. The Free Church stands for ultra-conservative ideas. Homosexuality is described as a “sin” and sex before marriage is not welcome. For speaker Konstantin Fritz, the modern location is still not a contradiction. He says: “Church can take place anywhere. I am firmly convinced that Jesus likes it here. After all, he too went to the sinners.” The Free Church sees the Neuraum as a place for a modern faith.
Is there a targeted strategy behind this to attract young people? Florian Schuppe, head of the ecumenical department in the Archdiocese of Munich, doesn’t see that. Free churches like the ICF would simply meet the spirit of the times: “Young people and young adults have their own demands when it comes to aesthetics, music and language. ICF manages to connect with their world. Just as the youth associations and diocesan youth work do in an excellent way. ” However, these Christian communities – unlike regional churches, which are supposed to appeal to all generations equally – have the freedom to focus on a target group.
For the Neuraum team, the Freikirche is a tenant like any other: “There are always companies that rent space for Christmas parties or other festivities. But the cooperation with ICF is by far the longest,” says operations manager Kevin Mironova.
In total there is space for up to 2,500 people – spread over four rooms and a terrace. Before the morning “Celebration”, as ICF calls its services, the church community discusses the past week over tea and coffee. When it comes to the change from a club to a church, the development workers say: “The bad goes, the good comes.” Church founder Frauke Teichen even compares the club’s transformation to a “small resurrection.”
For ICF, it is exhausting to rebuild the entire church every Sunday. The desire for a permanent, larger location is there. But the search for an alternative has so far been unsuccessful. The Free Church interprets this as an act of God – he probably considers the Neuraum to be the right place.
A total of three services take place here every Sunday. Almost 1,800 believers come to the club every week. If you can’t make it in person, you can watch the Mass via live stream at home. ICF is technically state-of-the-art. Visitors whose native language is not German can pick up headphones at the entrance – the celebration will be translated into four languages: English, Spanish, Russian and Mandarin.
Parents of small children listen to the preacher via live broadcast in the baby lounge. Some offspring use the club’s shiny silver poles as a climbing frame. A podcast studio is also being set up – in the toilet due to space constraints. Discussions are recorded between services and later uploaded to YouTube. Individual videos receive up to 20,000 clicks.
During the actual celebration, the differences between church and club finally become blurred: dimmed lights and a smoke machine create a mystical flair. Christian rap music plays in the background. Four hundred believers sit shoulder to shoulder and look at a brightly lit stage. With the song “Alive” the church comes to life. At around 10 p.m. the Neuraum finally turns into a club again – until next Sunday.