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Krefeld. “I am open to everything that comes”
Pastor Gerhard Herbrecht is the “new one” in the old church in Krefeld. On Sunday he will be appointed pastor of the Evangelical Church Community of Alt-Krefeld by Superintendent Dr. Barbara Schwahn introduced. Due to the corona, the service will be celebrated and recorded in a small group at 3 p.m. in the Old Church.
Pastor Gerhard Herbrecht and his wife Anke wanted to orient themselves to Krefeld anyway. She has been working as a special education teacher at a school in the city for almost 30 years. But actually a move should not happen until the beginning of his retirement in six and a half years. Now the family is moving earlier than planned. Herbrecht was pastor in the Protestant parish Erkrath until mid-January, almost 25 years. “You have to reduce from three pastors to two,” explains Herbrecht. “My change relieves my old church and means a fresh start for me.” Even at 60, that’s not a problem. Pastor and special education teacher – both have a lot to do with people, that keeps them young. Gerhard Herbrecht was born in Wuppertal, his father was also a pastor. “Although I am a pastor’s child, I studied for a pastor’s office, I always emphasize,” reports Herbrecht. “I knew exactly what to expect, having an open house with just a little privacy.” This open house that he experienced as a child also shaped his own time as a pastor. He is a passionate house visitor. In Erkrath, the proportion of over 65s was very high, with 800 out of around 2,000 community members. He has visited every senior citizen every five years. “This is a great advantage for pastors,” explains Herbrecht. “We get together with people with enough time. Time, who has that today? ” Gerhard Herbrecht studied theology in Münster, Tübingen, Bern and Bonn. He completed his vicariate and auxiliary service in Wesseling. “I took the best from there,” says Herbrecht with a smile. “Namely my wife.”
After graduating from high school in Wuppertal, however, he first completed an apprenticeship as a restaurant specialist. “The distance from my parents’ home was good for me,” recalls Herbrecht. “It was good to learn a trade first.” On the one hand he financed his later studies, he worked for 14 years on the side in this job, for many years in Bonn in government catering, for example in the Villa Hammerschmidt or at Schloss Brühl. On the other hand, this activity gives you a different perspective on professional life and everyday work. For example, he learned to leave other opinions uncommented at times. In the years in which he worked as a temporary worker, he met many other temporary workers who worked in this job out of emergency situations. Some conversations have become pastoral discussions – between the door and the hinge. “I realized at the time how important these situations are,” says Herbrecht. “How conversations come about unplanned and how helpful these are.” When he has enough time, Herbrecht likes to walk around town and looks forward to many – unplanned – encounters.
To be a pastor is a profession and calling for Herbrecht. “It’s a combination of both. I appreciate the versatility. ” Herbrecht is looking forward to his new start in the Evangelical Church Community of Alt-Krefeld: “I am looking forward to many contacts, I will see where the main areas of focus could be. I am open to everything that comes. “
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