caroline

I cold called. “Do you have a minute?” She was curious and open from the start. These qualities continued to show in every interaction that followed.

Caroline is one of two pastors at the Basel Münster, one of the city’s most famous landmarks. In the 16th century the reformation turned the Münster into the city’s most important reformed church. As far as ministerial jobs go, it’s one of the top spots in the country. Caroline is also the first person to win the Swiss Sermon Award, which she did in 2014. She has a PhD in theology and started reading the Bible as a teenager, searching for answers.

We met in front of the Münster. After saying hello we make a pitstop in her office to grab her bands (the collar of her pastoral robe) before going inside the church. “No secrets here” she replies after I ask her if I should wait outside. What she loves most about her job is preaching of course, conducting worship services on Sunday mornings, working with teenagers, and doing spiritual care. I ask her what role doubt has in believing. She replies that it’s essential – that faith emerges between the poles of “not believing” and “certainty”. In the morning she walks from the basement to the top towers of the Münster – each tower twice. It is there that she recites her daily prayers.

[9] Friday, May 21, 2021