Churches in Germany are struggling with sharply declining membership numbers. Consequently, parishes are merging across the country. This is usually decided by the respective church district, rarely with direct input from the parishes concerned. This was also the case in our neighbourhood, in beautiful North Neukölln.
On 1 January 2026, the Nikodemus and Martin Luther-Genezareth parishes there were merged and now together form the Evangelical Parish of North Neukölln. This is already the second compulsory parish merger, following the merger of Martin Luther and Genezareth six years ago. As that merger did not go smoothly at the time, an external party was to assist this time round.
And this is where we come in: we provided advisory support throughout the merger process and facilitated the upcoming retreat for the congregations, which by then had already merged. A particularly exciting assignment for us – not least because we rarely work right on our doorstep.
The process consisted of three parts: first, we held a total of six in-depth preliminary discussions with selected members of both congregations as well as with the congregations’ full-time staff. After introducing ourselves to the team of full-time staff and the parish council, we finally facilitated the two-day closed-door meeting. There, the participants were to lay the foundations for future collaboration within the now merged parish.
What might sound at first glance like a routine facilitation job was in fact a very challenging, demanding and, at the same time, highly exciting task. This was due to various factors that can arise in other social contexts as well, when a larger and a smaller entity are forced to merge: the smaller entity fears having to give up everything it has grown to cherish over the years and worries about simply being swallowed up. It is also a matter of not being sufficiently ‘seen’ and ‘heard’ by the larger entity. This intensifies the sense of grief and pain – and for some, also that of anger. The larger organisation, on the other hand, believes that the smaller one is welcome to join in, but sees no reason to change its own approach or what it offers – after all, things are working.
The situation is made even more complex by the fact that the church district has established a so-called ‘third place’ in the premises of the former Nikodemus parish. The aim is to rethink the church and reach out to new target groups in the neighbourhoods beyond traditional parish life. However, the staff of this “third place” are appointed by the church district and have limited inclination and time to engage with the former parishioners and their wishes.
Added to this is the fact that many people from both parishes have known one another for many years. An initial attempt to merge the two parishes failed over ten years ago because no agreement could be reached. There is, therefore, a long and not entirely straightforward shared history.
In this complex situation, it is not straightforward to grow together seamlessly and envision a shared future – this is a familiar challenge from mergers in the private sector, but also in public administration.
This makes accompanying this process all the more exciting. We are grateful for this experience and hope that we have been able to make our modest contribution to clearing a few hurdles on the path towards a sense of community in the now merged municipality of Nord-Neukölln and to laying the foundation for a shared future.
At the very least, the closed-door meeting saw outspoken figures – who had certainly clashed in the past – show themselves willing to engage in respectful and appreciative communication and an open dialogue on shaping the shared future of the parish. Or as the chair of the parish council put it: “I am particularly pleased about the noticeable change in the attitude of some of those involved.”
Consequently, by the end of the meeting, there was a palpable sense of positive energy to tackle the issues and set out on our shared journey. There will still be one or two hurdles to overcome, but the first step has been taken. And so we can say with a clear conscience: “Mission accomplished!”
