Catholic Church becomes a Sport Church

St. Joseph in Cologne-Ehrenfeld becomes a sports church

"Something for the people in the neighbourhood"

Church can move people. Quite literally. In St. Joseph's in Cologne-Ehrenfeld, people have recently started swinging dumbbells and doing squats. Klaus Thranberend explains what the project "Joseph dreams ... " project is all about.

DOMRADIO.DE: St. Joseph is to become a church of encounter and movement. The project is called "Joseph dreams ... ". What is it all about?

Parish Vicar Klaus Thranberend (Spiritual Advisory Board of the DJK Cologne Sports Association): It is a project that has come together from many movements. On the one hand, there is the Church of Saint Joseph, which stands in a prominent place on Venloer Straße and is very popular for the small rite of lighting a candle. The church is a building site. It has been renovated on the outside and is now to be renovated on the inside. So it is not in use for worship at the moment.

There was an initiative from the parish council. They said, before the church in the village goes to seed, let's just bring the village into the church. It started with art projects. The building fences that are in the church were designed.

It is important that this has something to do with the neighbourhood in Ehrenfeld, that this comes into the church and helps to shape the church.

The second movement is through the sports association. How can we bring church and sport, faith and life together and think and create something like a sports church? Then there was a working group. And so the sports association, the parish and many others from the neighbourhood started this project "Joseph dreams ...".

DOMRADIO.DE: Why does Joseph dream?

Thranberend: It is a Joseph church. There is a beautiful emblem above the main door where Joseph is dreaming and an angel is giving him the great visions. That's something we can use well at this time.

DOMRADIO.DE: Every Wednesday evening there is a free sports class that is for body, mind and soul. That's what your flyer says. What is different about this sports course?

Thranberend: It is an inclusive sports course. That means it is also for people with disabilities, to strengthen them. Inclusion means that everyone can come as they are and do what they need to become stronger and healthier themselves.

The exercise instructor also comes from the DJK from an exercise instructor course by and for people with disabilities.

DOMRADIO.DE: What kind of music is played?

Thranberend: There is a bit of music, but not from the organ.

DOMRADIO.DE: But there is a lot of reverberation in the church. Does something like that work?

Thranberend: Yes, it works very well. Of course, it's also a great feeling to be able to move around in such a space.

DOMRADIO.DE: Normally there are benches in the church. Is that different in St. Joseph?

"It is a church, it is not a profaned space. But there is a lot of space in the back for a lot of sports and a lot of movement."

Thranberend: Because it's a building site, the pews for this project are two-thirds out. In the front area, the pews are still there because it should continue to be and remain a place of worship. It is a church, it is not a profaned space. But in the back area there is a lot of space for a lot of sport and a lot of movement.

DOMRADIO.DE: Do you also want to address a new clientele with these events, i.e. people who have nothing to do with the church?

Thranberend: Yes, of course. But first and foremost, the clientele in Ehrenfeld should be addressed. It is very complex and very diverse. Something like this lends itself to that. So it is something inclusive in a broad sense. Everyone can come and be who they are.

DOMRADIO.DE: How do sport and Christian faith fit together?

Thranberend: The motto of the sports association is "Sport for the sake of the people". Doing something for the people in the neighbourhood is the common goal of sport and also of the church. It should be something for the people who are there and can shape this themselves to a great extent.

DJK Sports Association

The DJK Sports Association is a Catholic sports association in Germany with its headquarters in Langenfeld in the Rhineland. It sees itself as a Christian value-oriented sports association under a Catholic umbrella and, according to its own information, accepts any person who shares this orientation. Around 500,000 sportsmen and sportswomen participate in over 100 sports in around 1,100 DJK clubs. Elsbeth Beha has been president since 2015. Since 2018, Elisabeth Keilmann, who is also the Olympic and Sports Chaplain of the German Bishops' Conference, has been the Federal Spiritual Advisor.

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