Germans not flocking to church this Easter

Deutsche Welle has a brief article on Germany and Easter.

I am sure pastors and churches in Germany would like to see church attendance rise, especially at Easter. Here in the American northeast, it seems as if Christians are of the same mindset as those mentioned in the DW article, with the same percentages even.

I have been told and taught that we are now living in a post-modern Western society. I am not so sure about that. There certainly seems to be a strong modern ideal in my corner of the American northeast. Post-modernism, while it claims to be a return to things spiritual as an essential part of the human experience, does not necessarily translate to higher attendance at religious festivals or even in an interest in faith or God.

We do seem to be living in a post-Constantinian Christian world and living more in a first century world, as far as the Church is concerned. That is not necessarily a bad thing. To be sure, it is certainly a more challenging environment where Christianity is one of many religious possibilities for people to believe. It is also an exciting time, where each challenge also brings with it God's blessings. Hopefully, it will be a time of less obession with numbers, attendance, and finances, and more attention and delight in people and relationships: people with one another and people with Christ.

Time will certainly tell the tale. Perhaps the classic Devo song from the very early 1980s sums it up best: We're all living in a post-post-modern world.

Europeana

Europeana is a European online database showcasing the history and culture of Europe. The site was scheduled to debut around Thanksgiving Day, but when I went to the site it was down due to too much traffic. The site was redesigned to handle more internet traffic and the beta version is now partially running.

I went to the site to see what it was all about. There is still some work to be done as the beta version isn't fully complete yet. This seems to involve mainly icons and such.

I did a search for the quintessential German, Martin Luther. There was lots of stuff about him but I did not have time to go into great depth. I did notice some links to his Small Catechism.

Originally, when I saw a clip about Europeana on DW-TV it was stated that the German culture was not as much as other countries. I think France had the most data at that time a month ago.

I do like the fact that you have options of language. So you can choose Norwegian and search for Luther. I tried that and found some data hits. Not sure how much you will find in English regarding Luther and the Lutheran Church, but I hope the website can showcase a good deal of European history, culture, and religion.