Interview with Paul Hanson

The Rev. Paul Hanson was pastor of King of Glory Lutheran Church in Billings from 1988-1997. Since then, he has served as pastor of the International Congregation in Bratislava, Slovakia, as a missionary of the ELCA. He also teaches religion at the Evangelical Lyceum, a Lutheran high school of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia. Paul and his wife Kay were recently interviewed by Ron Klug, a member of the International Congregation of Bratislava.

What brought you to Slovakia?

PH: Forty years ago, while I was in seminary, I lived in Berlin working with refugees for the Lutheran World Federation. It was my first time outside North America, and it opened my perspectives on the Lutheran Church and the world. Some thirty years later, after serving three congregations in the U.S., Kay and I attended a Global Mission Event in Spokane. Kay attended a session about the ministry in Slovakia and the conversation started. Global mission turned out to be like bookends on either side of our congregational ministries.

How is the Bratislava International Congregation similar to a church in the U.S.?

KH: We are a group of Christians who gather around Word and sacrament. We worship on Sunday mornings using the liturgy from the Lutheran Book of Worship. People come to church here with the same basic needs as people at home: they are spiritually hungry and searching for meaning, they are hurting and in need of care, they are lonely and looking for Christian fellowship.

How is the congregation different?

PH: Not all members are Lutheran. Those who worship with us come from many different Christian traditions and from five continents. It is also a very transient congregation. In the fall we never know for sure who will be there. The congregation is made up of students, teachers, diplomats, international business people, and some Slovaks—all coming because they want an English-speaking church and a circle of friendship. Because this is a diverse international congregation, the preaching, prayers, and hymns have to incorporate a more global perspective.

What have you learned by teaching religion at the Evangelical Lyceum?

PH: I’m grateful for the unique opportunity of teaching religion each year to seventy 18-19-year-olds twice a week. I have appreciated the opportunity to know this generation, the first to grow up after communism. Some of them come from religious homes where Christian faith is central, but many do not. Their parents lived through the communist period when church life was severely controlled. Like teenagers everywhere, they have many questions about faith and life. I can identify with that because I was the same way when I was their age. I have been teaching World Religions, and have certainly learned more about them in that process, and also because we have more contact with them here than in some areas of the U.S. Our students have many questions about the other faiths and their relationship to Christianity.

Kay, what have you been doing here in Slovakia?

KH: I served as a volunteer in a number of ways. I drew on my professional background as a nursing educator and consultant to work with international health and development agencies here. As part of the International Women’s Club of Bratislava, I help raise money for several charitable causes, like orphanages and hospitals. With Paul, I have supported the other ELCA missionaries here—teachers, librarians, seminary professors-- by offering hospitality, providing orientation, assisting with housing, and creating a welcoming community. Because the church office is in our apartment, I have sometimes served as church secretary, and I have been organist for Sunday worship.

What have you appreciated most about living in Slovakia?

PH: Just being in the middle of so much that is happening in the world, learning about history where it happened and from multiple points of view. Also, getting to know Christians who had to face serious oppression and who paid a heavy price for their faith. Learning how faith was kept alive under those conditions has also been instructive and inspiring.

KH: It has also been interesting to see how a society, that was for hundreds of years run by others, is now moving toward independence and a developing democracy. We also appreciate all the cultural opportunities here, especially the music.

Isn’t it a long way from Billings to Bratislava?