seetal chile Poscht 10/2025

Dear friends of the seetal chile

by Matthias Altwegg

In August, we looked at the power of the tongue in a three-episode sub-series. "It is an uncontrollable evil, full of deadly poison. We use it to praise God, our Lord and Father; then again we use it to curse other people who are created in the image of God" (James 3:8f).

Silvia and I were recently informed that a rumour was circulating that we were separating. We were "blindsided". The truth is that we are really enjoying our time together now that all the children have left home. A few weeks ago, I was confronted with the rumour that I didn't believe there was a hell. But hell is part of my theological understanding and always has been. A few years ago there was a rumour about my sexual orientation. The truth is: I have never been attracted to men in my life.

As a victim of such rumours, an inner impulse comes into play that wants to investigate the matter and set the record straight. You feel emotionally miserable and quickly realise that you are completely powerless and alone. It is true what the old saying goes: "Words are like feathers in the wind - once spoken, they can no longer be collected."

So such rumours become for me a learning field for what I have also said in this series: "Do not repay evil with evil [...] but on the contrary, bless, because you have been called to inherit blessings!" (1 Peter 3:9). I have decided not to pursue this matter, but simply to bless silently. At the same time, I also want to be open to impressions that other people have for me.

It's true: time and again we hear or read about pastors who are involved in moral scandals. Sometimes I even get the impression that some people really enjoy it and gloat: "You see, he's no better!" Of course - even pastors are not free from temptation and danger. And when one of us stumbles, there is certainly someone who is particularly happy about it.

My concern and prayer is to fulfil my active ministry as a full-time pastor (and beyond) close to Jesus and thus victorious. I would be happy if you would join me in this prayer for us employees of seetal chile!

We are focussing more on Israel

In the month of October, we are focussing in particular on Israel. The following events are planned:

• 16 October: We welcome Assaf Zeevi - a native Israeli, experienced tour guide, book author, podcaster and speaker on topics related to Israel - to Generation+. All interested parties are of course cordially invited to this afternoon.
• 26 October: The theme of the service is: "First Israel / The Jews - then the nations / The Christians". Christian Haslebacher, Chairman of Viva Kirche Schweiz and a recognised expert on Israel, will speak on this topic. We should be fully assembled on this Sunday! 😉

Not to be forgotten is the trip to Israel planned by seetal chile with Kultour-Reisen next spring (10-20 April 2026). We will go into more detail and report on this at the church service on 26 October.

The 10 days of prayer for the Jewish people to recognise and love Yeshua as their Messiah will soon be behind us. Between Rosh ha-Shanah (22 September) and Yom Kippur (2 October), we took part in this special prayer campaign. We drew attention to it both in the weekly mail and in the church service.

FiA home team

by Cédric Brügger

Today I went to my hairdresser, where me and my boys have been customers for a few months now. After my haircut, he asked about my profession. When I said pastor, he didn't know what it meant at first. He himself is Kosovar and Muslim. So we got into a conversation about faith. He asked me whether there were people in our church who had turned away from the Muslim faith. In an undertone, I clearly realised that he didn't think that was a good thing. How do you feel about that? Is it okay to invite people to the Christian faith? Even if their environment, family and friends don't understand it at all? Yes, even if they are excluded because of it? The "yes" to Jesus is always associated with many "no's".

Church is always also "church for others". It is always aimed at all those people who do not yet belong to the church. As seetal chile, this is our mission and motivation: to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ. Because "He wants everyone to be saved and recognise the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4 NLB). All followers of Jesus are invited to agree with this expression of God's will and to stand up for it.

There are some people in our midst who want to connect people with Jesus in other countries and cultures. Our "Friends in Action (FiA)" are sometimes in environments where people have to reckon with major restrictions if they change their religion. They therefore always need a lot of wisdom and prayer support. To ensure that the connection to us in the church does not break off, some people invest themselves in the FiA home team. I have recently become the contact person for this team and am therefore writing these lines.

The aim is for us at home and the FiA to pull together, namely to familiarise people with the Good News. We warmly invite you to support this fundamental concern of the church with your prayers and your testimony in your place.

Our finances

by Christoph Leimgruber

As has been the case throughout the year, I would like to report a great pleasure - and at the same time a certain challenge.

The joy: month after month, I receive numerous donations that add up to an impressive total. A big thank you to everyone who has contributed to this with small or large donations!

The challenge: we are currently slightly behind budget. Not dramatically, but clearly recognisable in the graph. Together, we want to close this gap - and I am confident that we will succeed.

Information in a nutshell

It can happen that errors occur in our administration. Sometimes people do not receive the publications they subscribed to, their birthday is forgotten or a start or end date is not listed. Please assume that such errors are unintentional and let us know if you discover one.

In the meantime, a team consisting of Dominik Hauser, Andi Lieberherr, Regula Amsler and Simona Spichtig has formed to work together on ideas for the House of the future to develop. Working closely with the church leadership and the congregation, they will initially consider a wide range of concepts. We wish these innovative people the guidance of the Holy Spirit!

Info about people

From January 2026 Silas Burgherr will be taking up the advertised 20% position as Music Director with an initial one-year contract. We are very much looking forward to working with him and to the new opportunities that this will open up for our parish. At the next community meeting on 24 November, we will provide information about the job description and the funding of the position.

Fabienne Hauser has been in Hawaii since mid-September. There she is doing Surfing the Nations a three-month discipleship training programme. This also includes social diaconal work.

Silvan and Deborah Senn are applying for membership of seetal chile or Viva Church Switzerland. We are very pleased about this and are therefore opening the 14-day period during which existing members can lodge an objection.

Eveliina Franz is a new member of the glow Next team. Reinhard Schroeder has responded to the call in the weekly mail and is joining the mentoring team in the area of pastoral care with immediate effect. We wish you joy, fulfilment and success in your commitment!

Michael von Känel and Shania Michel have ended their involvement in Kinderhüeti. Deborah Senn will be leaving the team at the end of the year. Thank you very much for the time you spent helping with the children!

For the agenda

This year, too, we are at the Christmas parcel" campaign
 für Eastern Europe" in the process. The collection takes place between the 2 and 16 November will take place. Further information will follow!

Our Life in Freedom course starts on 3 November. Participants in this seminar are accompanied in taking a look at their lives together with the Holy Spirit in order to then experience more freedom through the redemption of Jesus Christ.

At 13 November at 19:30 the next regional impulse evening to the topic "How do we understand the Bible?" with Dr Roland Hardmeier.

At 14 November at 19:30 Together with the Evangelical Alliance Aargauer Seetal, we are offering a theatre play in the Seon parish hall to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's death.

From 22-25 May we are the whole community in Bad Schussenried. The Community weekend offers excellent opportunities to come into relationship with each other and with God.

It is important to us to present the information from seetal chile to you in a short, crisp and interesting way. We would be delighted if you read it. It will enable you to actively support the work of seetal chile and to stand behind it in prayer. Thank you very much for your commitment!

Matthias Altwegg and Cédric Brügger