18: Rethinking the Ekklesia - with Pastor Ingrid Cramer-Doerschel

Pastor Ingrid grew up in post-war Germany and navigated the trauma of the war’s shadow. She discusses the habit of taking refuge in church doctrine as a way of avoiding the responsibility for what unfolded in Germany; the church as a gathering of family and friends, of the like-minded, while teaching engagement with strangers; a church “turned inwards”. She speaks of the gifts she was given by the homeless who sought shelter under the porch at Trinity Lutheran Church in Edmonton; the deep regard for social justice that seemed, at times, to accompany a drawing away from worship and its gift of leading us to draw near to God’s presence; and, a sense of never being able to do enough for the healing of the world. She speaks of her vision of the church as a guest house for all focused both on confession, communion and working with a steady hand to heal the wounds of our common life.

In November of 2021 Pastor Ingrid became the pastor at Saint Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Vancouver, where she now serves in English and German.