Poster series 2021: I do my part in the congregation

New Apostolic congregations will once again hang pictures in their display cases in the year 2021. Every month, a different poster will provide passers-by with some inspiration for their day. In contrast to past years, next year’s poster series will not reflect the Chief Apostle’s annual motto. Rather, the posters will follow a theme of their own: “I do my part”.

For a number of years now, the posters have been a firm component of the Church’s public relations efforts in many countries of Europe. The Work Group “Public Relations Work in Europe” is responsible for the initiative. Together with three photographers, namely Angela Pfeifer, Jurek Schwekendiek, and Marcel Bock, the Work Group hosts a photoshoot each year in order to produce portraits for a new poster series.

“I do my part”

“In past years, the thought behind the posters was to give sisters and brothers from various congregations of the Church ‘a face’. The intent was to introduce the Church and give people an idea of the kind of people one might meet there,” explains project leader Björn Renz. Next year, the aim is not only to show the faces of our members, but also provide some ideas about how people can get more involved in their congregations. According to Björn Renz, “This helps passers-by get a better picture of what congregational life is like—and the members will surely be able to see themselves reflected in one or the other activity.”

Posters despite the corona pandemic?

Not even the corona virus can present a problem big enough to stop the Public Relations Work Group responsible for the poster series. Even though there was no photoshoot this year, there will still be a poster series next year. It all became possible because of some unused portraits from past years, as Björn Renz explains: “We were able to fall back on unpublished photos from the last six years of photoshoots. After all, we have more than twelve people come out for each shoot. Usually, there are between 30 and 40 people who participate. We were able to profit from that this year—and possibly even for next year.”

Models from past years

In recent years, the pictures have been taken in various congregations of the District Churches of Northern and Eastern Germany as well as in Western Germany. The models come from a wide variety of congregations in the two District Churches, including Eckernförde near Kiel (NAC Northern and Eastern Germany) and Lünen near Dortmund (NAC Western Germany). They are between ten and 67 years old. Concerning the large age span, Björn Renz says, “We are interested in arriving at a good cross section of the congregation. We want to show young and old, sisters and brothers, as well as different ‘types’ of people—just like the kind you can find in every congregation you visit.”