Abe and Irene Neufeld |
It seems the idea of a “missional” church has been around for 35 years. Tulpengasse Free Church, led by MBMS International missionaries Abe and Irene Neufeld in Vienna, Austria, was described as being “like a chapter out of the book of Acts” in the 1970s.
Tulpengasse let loose with the Neufeld’s idea of Gemeinde, or community, opening up their small apartment to some 80 people each week and taking seriously the call to “take up the cross” and follow Christ. “Simpler houses, fewer conveniences, plainer cars,” and spontaneous interaction in a time of stuffy norms spoke to a generation of post-Christendom Europeans.
“If I were asked to speak on the strategy of this work, I’d be finished in five minutes,” said Abe, in a 1978 book on their community written by Margaret Epp. “It hasn’t been in the planning, but in the Spirit of God.”
The Neufelds were missionaries who vaguely affiliated with MB structure to fulfill their calling. This fall, Abe spoke to an audience of 500 Tulpengasse members from 20 daughter congregations. He encouraged leaders to find new ways of proclaiming the gospel. “No one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out, and the wineskins will be ruined,” he said, quoting Luke 5.
The Viennese church was based on study and prayer, avoiding a fixed confession. In a review of Epp’s book 8.,Tulpengasse, the writer said, “Such descriptions have the power to not only encourage the North American reader, but also challenge our concepts of church involvement.”
—from report
| 
