Essen-Bredeney.
Joachim Lauterjung worked in Bredeney for over 30 years. He was instrumental in founding the Emmaus Church. Now the pastor is dead.
- the longtime pastor of the evangelical community in Essen-Bredeney passed away.
- Joachim Lauterjung was 61 years old.
- He played a key role in the Emergence of the Emmaus community with.
The evangelical Emmaus congregation and the Essen church district mourn the death of pastor em. Joachim Lauterjung, who died on January 2nd at the age of 61 after a serious illness. He served in the community for over 30 years until his retirement in September 2022. He was particularly fond of art and helped initiate the merger of the two evangelical communities of Bredeney and Margarethenhöhe.
“We mourn his passing and our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family,” the Emmaus congregation said in a statement. Joachim Lauterjung was born on December 20, 1961 in Gelsenkirchen. After studying theology, he completed his vicariate in Bonn and was ordained as a pastor on July 8, 1990.
In 1991 Joachim Lauterjung came to the Essen-Bredeney evangelical community
In 1991 Joachim Lauterjung became a pastor in the auxiliary service in the then Protestant parish of Bredeney, which has been called the Emmaus parish since the merger with the Margarethenhöhe parish. On September 8, 1991 he was inducted into the second pastorate of the parish. In the service for his farewell on September 4th in the church Am Heierbusch in Bredeney, Joachim Lauterjung preached again about his theological understanding: “Our ability to think and plan is a blessing, a gift. Our time wants to be shaped and not killed.”
The mission goes far: “We shape our lives. Our relationships. Our world. The conditions for the future of our children. This is true regardless of what we believe and what we don’t believe. God is not required for this thought. But perhaps it is necessary?” asked the pastor, quoting his confirmation verse, “The heart of man thinks his way, but the Lord alone guides his step!”
Joachim Lauterjung initiated the merger with the evangelical community of Bredeney and Margarethenhöhe together with his counterpart, pastor Henny Dirks-Blatt, who has since retired. At the time, she emphasized the trusting cooperation with Lauterjung that had grown over many years.
The municipalities were merged at the beginning of 2020
The merger was completed at the beginning of 2020 and went smoothly despite all the necessary compromises. The members of the congregation were involved in the planning right from the start. The aim of the merger was to make the new congregation future-proof in the face of declining membership and thus declining financial resources, as Lauterjung emphasized again and again. It was important to both congregations to take their future into their own hands, the pastor emphasized in advance.
“People are more important than stones” was Joachim Lauterjung’s credo. Families were particularly important to him. He was proud of the fact that the daycare center at Brandenbusch had been remodeled and expanded and that the daycare center at Heierbusch had been rebuilt in recent years.
The funeral service will take place on Friday, January 13, at 11 a.m. in the church Am Heierbusch. The urn burial will then take place in the cemetery in Bredeney, Westerwalder Straße. Instead of wreaths and flowers, a donation for the Peace Village Oberhausen is requested. The Essen Church District has the bank details and password on its website www.kirche-essen.de released.
The Emmaus congregation’s New Year’s Reception originally announced for January 12 has been cancelled.
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