With our official name “Christliche Hausgemeinde,” we had set out on a significant new course. This effected all of us, as we learned together, how to organize a church service for the public. The men had been scouting out locations near the center of Munich. The two main conditions were, that it was affordable and available on Sundays. What they decided on was somewhat amusing; a Taekwondo hall. Besides the sport classes that took place during the week, there was a meditation group, that was following the teachings of an Indian guru. His picture hung on a prominent wall with the title, “the perfect master.” Fortunately, we were allowed to remove it when we came in, and replaced it with a temporary wall hanging, that Judi and I, had made.
None of us realized, how much work it was going to be, to transform that hall into a welcoming place suitable for a church service. We had a couple of teams that came early to set up each Sunday. The first step was rolling out a large carpet we bought to protect the floor. Then our new chairs were lined up in rows facing the front where the microphones were placed. A second team came with boxes of supplies for the room we used for the children.
At the end of the meeting and after all of the guests were gone, everyone pitched in packing our stuff, stacking the chairs and rolling up the carpet. For the first meetings, we were excited and nervous, to see who would come and what the atmosphere would be like.