Event organised by the Protestant Church Christmas party for singles and family grouches in Bad Godesberg
Bad Godesberg · The Protestant parish in Bad Godesberg is organising a Christmas party on Christmas Eve especially for singles, but also for other interested people.
"Many people look extremely forward to Christmas Eve, for others it is a horror," says Oliver Ploch as he decorates the churches for the services with his sextons Daniel Müller and Udo Ludwig. The pastor of the Protestant Thomas Church congregation explains that 24 December is very much characterised by memories and emotions. "Some people feel loneliness or fear conflicts in the family, because too many expectations and the pressure that things should now be harmonious and beautiful put a strain on everyone," says Ploch. That's why he has been offering a Christmas party for singles and family grouches on Christmas Eve for years.
Even the timing of this Christmas Vespers in St Paul's Church, In der Maar 7, is tempting in the pastor's view: "At 7 pm, the masses are through. It will be more contemplative and relaxed. And afterwards we meet next door at Café Selig for potato salad and sausages, wine, juice and biscuits." The congregation invites people, guests don't have to pay anything.
It is exciting and totally unpredictable every year who and how many come, reports Ploch. "There are actually single people, but also couples or families who like the idea and want to support it," he says. Before Corona, he says, 15 to 25 people usually came. "You don't have to sign up. We take it as it comes.“
Most of the people who celebrate first get to know each other, the pastor says. Not all of them are parishioners. That always turns out to be very interesting. Ploch remembers a young couple who had hiked in the Kottenforst and had misjudged the distance. "They were grateful to have found their way back to Bad Godesberg in spite of the darkness, and then Googled the late service date on their mobile phones." They marched in with hiking boots and had a good appetite, says Ploch and laughs.
Sad and funny moments on Christmas Eve
Another time, a group of foreign students dropped by whose professor had advised them to learn how to celebrate Christmas in Germany on this festive occasion. "That was particularly funny." But there have also been tears shed at the Christmas Eve for Singles, because someone was really alone for the first time after the death of his wife at Christmas. "So there is a lot to talk about, including how people used to celebrate Christmas or how they would like to do so in the near future," the pastor reports. They sing songs and listen to stories that one or the other brings along.
Ploch himself has a lot to do on this day in St Paul's and Christ's Church: "For me it is my evening meal in community after three services in a row." He usually has to go home at some point to rest and collect himself. Because at 11 p.m. he wants to invite everyone to the last Christmas mass by candlelight in the Christuskirche. It would be a solemn service with a sermon, communion and a "groovy brass sextet". "Unfortunately, I can't report on any marriages that have come about during the singles celebrations," Ploch says at the end with a wink. "But who knows? Nothing is impossible."
(Original text: Ebba Hagenberg-Miliu; Translation: Mareike Graepel)
