The new Frankfurt Institute of Religion of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Frankfurt, Germany, is gathering young adults together from across the region and bringing people closer to Jesus Christ.
The center, dedicated earlier this year, was years in the making and now connects three stakes — becoming a space for learning, connection and personal growth.
For many years, around 10-12 institute students regularly met in the Primary room in the Frankfurt meetinghouse, but they started to outgrow the space, explained Lars Wiborny, a young adult in the Frankfurt Germany Stake. Then the stake president made it possible for the YSAs to have their own space, with furniture and study spaces. Sometimes upward of 60 participants came each week.
Melissa Dalton-Bradford and Randall Bradford, who are stake advisors over the young adults, joined them and began teaching a class. Then the institute added multiple classes, and the space became crowded again.
“We always squeezed into this room, which was already quite big; bigger than originally, but still it was really crowded,” Wiborny said in a Church News call with the Bradfords. “People sat on the floor, people sat on the window ledges. We had to be creative, so we split into several classes and used other spaces of the chapel.”
Next to the meetinghouse was a former Church administration building that leadership had been trying to decide what to do with. The stake president asked if there was space inside for the young adults to meet.
Young adults and stake leaders prepared a concept plan for the area presidency, who responded, “We love the idea, but let’s make it bigger,” Wiborny said.
The area presidency proposed including young single adults from Germany’s Friedrichsdorf and Heidelberg stakes and not just institute classes, but also welfare and self-reliance, EnglishConnect, FamilySearch, BYU–Pathway Worldwide, German classes and so on.
“Then the planning started,” Wiborny said. “I’m still amazed by the Church administration here in Frankfurt, how much they really wanted to include the young adults in the planning.”
Meanwhile, institute attendance continued to grow. At the institute’s opening night in the fall, around 120 young adults came.
“It was cool to see that this number we reached before we even got the place, because it’s great to have a place to meet, but it’s really about the Spirit and about coming together and connecting, which made it possible,” Wiborny said.
The new building was dedicated on April 18. After guided tours, a meeting included music, prayers and short messages centered on community, hope and the importance of creating spaces where young people feel they belong.
Elder Jack N. Gerard, a General Authority Seventy and then the first counselor in the Church’s Europe Central Area presidency, presided over the dedication and also spoke during the event. He said institutes of religion play a vital role in helping young adults anchor their lives in Jesus Christ, build their faith and find purpose as they serve one another.
“This new institute in Frankfurt will be a place where young people feel they belong, where they come not only to study the teachings of Jesus Christ but to build friendships, strengthen character and prepare to contribute meaningfully to their families, the Church and the community around them,” he said as reported by the Church’s Europe Newsroom. “As lives are uplifted here, the influence of that goodness will naturally reach far beyond these walls.”
A public open house took place on June 27. Friends, neighbors and invited guests from other churches participated in an opening reception with a symbolic ribbon-cutting ceremony. Those from other faiths expressed their admiration for the building and its purpose, a Church press release explained in German.
Alea Mesterharm, a young adult from the Friedrichsdorf Germany Stake, said in the Europe Newsroom report: “It feels special to invite people into a place that is so beautiful and welcoming. I think it’s important for us to have a space where we can meet, connect and build meaningful relationships. I truly believe this new center will create that kind of environment.”
Mesterharm was also excited about having a larger space for young adults, “not just from our local congregations but also friends from the wider community.”
Frankfurt is very international, especially because of the banking industry, Dalton-Bradford said. People come from all over the world, and that is evident at the institute as well. Classes are now held in several languages in the new space, with the ability to meet in separate rooms.
“Not only is it an intersection between three different stakes, but it’s an intersection between all of these different languages and cultures,” she said.
A room in the building is available to the community as well, Bradford said. Besides classes, groups of Church members or community members can reserve the building for events like game nights, family home evening or wedding showers. Many young adults gathered to watch Germany play in the World Cup. The building is air-conditioned, which is a blessing on some of the hottest days of the summer when most places do not traditionally have air conditioning.
On Thursday nights, Elder Douglas Burgoyne and Sister Carol Burgoyne, who are senior missionaries, help make a meal for the young adults before their institute classes — and then after the classes, they serve dessert where the young adults can visit with each other.
Sister Burgoyne, who joined the Church News interview with Wiborny and the Bradfords, said they generally plan a meal for 80, and they seem to have enough even when more people come. The young adults enjoy the food and socialization, but really they come to learn the doctrine taught in their classes, she said.
Bradford added that he thinks the young adults come looking for guidance. And when they can linger and talk with each other, “it is a really important part of their life.”
Wiborny said many people stay for hours “because they really enjoy the company of each other. It really is special to connect with others who share your commitment to Jesus Christ.”
Church members and missionaries invite friends to the center, which has led to baptisms. But that’s not all, Wiborny said. He has also seen many return to Church activity because institute shows them they belong.
“Institute is important, but our goal — and we all agree on that — is always the Sunday worship is the most important thing,” he said.
The Frankfurt Institute of Religion has a slogan: “Together to Gather.” It’s not just a place to gather as young adults and friends or to gather memories and experiences, Wiborny said, but it’s also where the gathering of Israel takes place. The stake president pointed young adults to Ephesians 1:10 , which reads, “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth, even in him.”
Wiborny is grateful as he reflects on how far they have come, from the days of 10 or 15 people to now seeing times when they exceed 100 in attendance.
“We really felt that the Lord’s hand really is behind all of this,” Wiborny said. “It really has been the Lord who has prepared ways and paths and people to make it possible.”
