A rights group slammed a Munich official’s opposition to a Christian faith conference in Germany as a “direct attack on religious freedom.”
The Vienna, Austria-based Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe) criticized objections to the UNUM24 conference by Third Mayor of Munich Cllr. Verena Dietl as part of a “worrying trend” of LGBTQ+ and other leftist groups trying to cancel Christian events. “Unum” is Latin for “unity” or “oneness.”
UNUM24 attendees met in the Olympiahalle in Munich from Thursday to Sunday (June 20 to 23) to worship and receive Bible teaching from various speakers. The event was opposed for inviting the Rev. Bill Johnson of Bethel Church in Redding, California as one of the speakers. He is known to promote a healing ministry for practicing homosexuals.
Organizers held UNUM24 in the same week as LGBTQ+ celebrations in Munich for Christopher Street Day, styled similarly to gay “pride” worldwide events.
Munich official Dietl had requested that the UNUM24 organizers “explore options for a sign of tolerance in the Olympic Park this weekend.” Dietl turned down an offer of talks with the event organizers who claimed the timing of the two events to be a mere coincidence, according to queer.de.
“The ideologies and theses announced by some of the speakers at the event are diametrically opposed to what distinguishes Munich as a cosmopolitan, pluralistic and democratic society,” Dietl wrote in German to organizers. “In view of some preachers and speakers, to talk about the alleged goal of overcoming divisions and also connecting and reconciling very different people with one another is, in my opinion, downright grotesque.”
LGBTQ+ activists organized a protest against the Christian conference outside the Olympiahalle on Friday (June 21).
“A large number of Christian groups from all over Germany and beyond want to pray together with nationalist-right, Christian-fundamentalist groups – with prominent support from the right-wing homophobic Trump supporter, Pastor Bill Johnson from the Californian Bethel Church in Redding – for a change in our country towards a Christian-dominated state,” an unnamed critic stated on queer.de.
Philipp Greifenstein, managing director of Die Eule (The Owl), a liberal theological magazine in Germany, questioned the potential effects of the conference.
“Will the fundamentalist agitation against LGBTQI+, for which the main speaker Bill Johnson is particularly known, spill over to the participants?” he wrote on June 13. “Is there even a possibility that there will be attacks on visitors to the CSD?”
On her professional website, Dietl describes herself as “committed” to “participation and equal opportunities for all people” and “participation and equality in all situations.” She also says that “standing up for other people – that’s what drives me.”
A photo posted on Dietl’s Instagram page shows her celebrating Christopher Street Day with the Mayor of Munich, Dieter Reiter, alongside the caption, “Munich has shown that we are a welcoming, diverse and tolerant society.”
Anja Hoffmann, executive director of OIDAC Europe, said she observed a “worrying trend” of radical, left-wing extremist groups attempting to cancel Christian events if speakers do not share their worldview.
“We have been observing this intolerant attitude increasing at universities, with recent polls showing a high readiness among students to disinvite speakers with whom they disagree,” Hoffmann said. “The recent protest against the Christian UNUM24 gathering, seeking its cancellation, is particularly worrying.”
As the organizers underlined the gathering focused on common worship and faith, the objections to it constitute a “direct attack against religious freedom,” she said.
“Even more worrisome is the deputy mayor’s statement lamenting that she does not have the power to shut down the prayer gathering,” Hoffmann said. “This anti-democratic attitude should raise alarm.”
UNUM24 originated with a vision for an event celebrating Christian unity by the Rev. Gerhard Kehl, pastor of the pentecostal AlpineCHURCH [sic] in Kempten-Leubas, also founder of the Jordan Foundation; and Fadi Krikor, originally from Armenia and Syria, who founded the Father’s House for All Nations, a spiritual retreat at the former Altenhohenau monastery near Griesstätt. He is particularly interested in reconciliation between denominations.
The faith conference aims to help Christians deepen their relationship with God and prioritize togetherness in Christ, connecting together in prayer and worship. A description of the event on its website states, “UNUM24 certainly cannot do justice to all ideas and influences, and we do not want to be a platform for ecclesiastical, political or social disputes, however important these may be. On the basis of our common Christian creed, we gather around the crucified and risen Christ to renew our personal faith, strengthen our relationship with one another and pray together for our time.”
Speakers at the event included regional Bishop of Saxony Tobias Bilz and Heinrich Timmerevers, Catholic bishop of the Dresden-Meissen diocese.
Backlash against the conference also included leaders of the 400-member Freie Evangelische Gemeinde (FSG) Munich-Mitte, a reformed church of the Association of Free Evangelical Congregations in Germany. Church leaders discouraged members from attending the conference.
Senior Pastor Matthias Lohmann and Pastor Matthias Mockler, who oversees discipleship at the FEG Munich-Mitte, also voiced concern over the healing theology of Pastor Johnson. Their theological opposition is outlined in a “pastor’s podcast” available to listen in German on Spotify.
“The organizers [of UNUM24] want to promote Christian unity in the country – an important concern!” states a translated introduction to the podcast. “In this episode, our pastors talk about why we as a church are still not taking part in the conference and what specific requests we have for the event.”
