Situation

Where we are now

Today, again, the Osijek church has outgrown its space, into which it is hard to fit all its members for the Sunday morning service – people pack the hall and the stairs.  Sunday school for children is held in the pastor’s apartment, which is above the “church” and of course, you cannot play of shout or even sing loud there, since it would disturb the service downstairs. Some bigger, regional meetings are almost impossible to hold in the way they have been held a few years ago. For evangelistic meetings even, the numbers of people who attend must be kept to not more then 30, so you can fit them around tables. The church has no kitchen or community space. Concerts, conferences, or similar happenings are impossible to do. Adding to these vital problems of a growing church, there are the less spectacular, but still important needs of administrative space and storage. In the office of some 9m2 and three desks, now work 7 people on programs for the church, the region and some national programs like the women’s work and the Baptist Institute, an adult educational program.

The church tried renting space, but the only fitting possibility costs 100 DM an hour. School gym halls are not available to us as a minority religious group.