(Doing) Belonging together in Diversity. Eine theologisches Programm convivialer, migrationsökumenischer Partnerschaften am Fallbeispiel des interkulturellen Kirchenzentrum Mannheims

Das Kirchengebäude als shared-place? Die Vermietung von Kirchengebäude an andere Gemeinden findet sich, gerade im Kontext der sogenannten Migrationsökumene, inzwischen häufig. Dieses Mietverhältnis kann sich als Nebeneinander oder partnerschaftlich gestalten. Kaum in der Forschung ist bisher diskutiert, welche Theologien und Ideologie zweiteres hervorbringt sowie welche Praktiken und Themen sich als relevant erweisen. Anhand der Fallstudie soll beides qualitativ-empirisch erforscht wurden: An der Friedenskirche in Mannheim etablierte sich über die letzten 10 Jahr das sogenannte interkulturelle Kirchenzentrum, im Rahmen dessen inzwischen sechs protestantischen Gemeinden verschiedener Tradition im gleichen Kirchengebäude ihre Gottesdienste feiern, i.d.R. nacheinander sowie dreimal im Jahr miteinander. Diese Gottesdienste werden von Repräsentant:innen aller Gemeinde vorbereitet, die sich monatlich treffen, um organisatorische Herausforderungen zu klären und die Partnerschaften zu intensivieren. Denn die Verbindungen zwischen den Gemeinden sind «weit mehr als Mietverträge»; sie sind interkulturell-ökumenische, convivale (con-viviere: miteinanderleben) Partnerschaften. In der ethnographischen Studie wird herausgearbeitet, wie die Begegnungsräume der interkulturell-ökumenischen Partnerschaften gestaltet werden und welche kirchentheoretische Rahmung aus jenen entstehen.

Diasporic experiences of African immigrants in the context of global migration: The case of Ghanaian Christians in Switzerland. 

(A doctoral project being conducted in English).

Abstract:

"If, by the grace of God, I was able to make the long journey here, then I believe I am also capable of breaking all other barriers that stand in my way to success - with the help of the same God who led me here” (anonymous Ghanaian immigrant). 

The above statement echoes not only the frustration of Ghanaian immigrants but also their silent prayer to God to help them survive the challenges they face in Switzerland. It strengthens their hopes and aspirations to succeed in a country that has set up many structural barriers (that stand their way and impede their progress) to prevent ‘unwanted’ migration from the so-called 3rd world countries. It summarizes their daily struggles but also assures them of survival by rekindling their faith and belief in God. In other words, comments like this encourage and motivate them in navigating the daily social, cultural and economic challenges they experience in Switzerland.  

This project explores the challenges Ghanaian immigrants experience in Switzerland and the strategies they employ in surviving their experience. The two main aspects of the project focus on sociological and religious questions. In the first part, issues on social, cultural and economic challenges are explored. Experiences relating to racism, discrimination, stereotyping, stigmatization, etc are also investigated in this section. The second aspect of the project, where issues on religion and theology are explored, deals with questions on survival. Here, religious, social and other forms of support to mitigate or navigate challenging experiences are discussed in the context of Christian faith. These categories are examined as coping and survival strategies in a broader perspective. It is important to emphasize here that, religious affiliation and relationship with God is of great importance for African Christian immigrants. 

Using in-depth interviews and descriptive phenomenological analysis, the project aims at gaining in-depth knowledge on the context of the Ghanaian experience and how they describe their daily struggles. It assesses the practical issues in coping and how they are conceptualized as survival tools for dealing with their struggles. The research approach employsthick description to examine the issues at stake. Emerging issues are compared across deductive subgroups of participants in seeking to understand the pattern of experiences for young and old participants, male and female participants, etc. On the other hand, issues involved in coping are examined across inductively sub-grouped of participants. The following three categories emerge: 

• those who believe in and employ religious coping strategies.
• those who believe in and employ social coping strategies.
• those who believe in and employ other coping strategies.
• And those who employ a combination of the strategies.  

This way of analysing the data helps to understand and explain the unique experiences and responses of individual participants and across socio-demographic subgroups of participants.     

As at this stage of the project, the following are the guiding research questions: 

1. To what extent do socio-economic struggles and challenges impact the progress of African immigrant in Switzerland?

• How do Ghanaians describe their daily experiences and link their predicament to structural barriers of the host country?
• What does it mean for Ghanaians to experience and survive socio-economic challenges in Switzerland?

2. To what extent does religious affiliation and practical Christian living create social resilience that helps immigrants to actively shape their living conditions in a diasporic situation where they encounter hostility and exclusion? 

• How does religious affiliation and practical Christian living help Ghanaian immigrants to develop social resilience as a response to their daily experiences?
• What are the specific coping and survival strategies and how are they employed?
• How is religious/theological language employed in describing their experiences and coping responses?   

When successfully completed, the study would become one of the few contributions to research on Black African immigrants in Switzerland. Conducted across the academic fields of migration, sociology and religion, the project adds up to knowledge production in these interdisciplinary areas.