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FRIEDRICHSDORF, GERMANY -- Frankfurt Temple President Karl Borcherding
and his wife Hanna invited 90 guests, including the Mayor of
Friedrichsdorf, Horst Burghardt, the administrative head of the
county, Juergen Banzer, some of Friedrichsdorf's town councilors and
representatives of the local Catholic and Lutheran Churches, to a
celebration of the advent of the birth of Christ. The celebration, held
in the Borcherding's home, helped improve relationships with the local
community.
President Borcherding, who has been Temple President for about a year,
is pleased to be in Friedrichsdorf, "There is an ideal mixture of
hectic busy-ness and silent, historic areas", he said. Other LDS
Church members evidently agree, as the Church is participating in five
working groups, as part of a process to bring community groups into the
town's decision making process.
President Borcherding held the reception to help visitors get in the
right mood for Christmas, reminding them that Christmas is more about
Christ than about Santa Claus. It also helps the community understand
more about LDS beliefs. The Advent "for us is a time of preparation for
Christmas, too. It is the time in which we leave our hectic life
behind and tune in for pondering," said President Borcherding. Member
Peter Zarse says, "With [this reception] we want to open our church,
which is part of the life in Friedrichsdorf since 1987. In addition to
this we want to open the opportunity to everybody to convince themselves
that we are just humans, believing in Christ and his teachings".
The reception included music performed by LDS Church members. Sandra
Rehse sang, accompanied by her husband, Stefan. Rolf and Christel Glueck
performed, as did violinist Yoshio Takenaga of the Orchestra of the
Hessian State Theater.
