BANGOR – The children rush down the aisles to gather at her feet.

They are not intimidated by the Rev. Christianne Stahlmann’s austere black robe or her slightly accented English. They are drawn to the sparkle in her eyes and the joy she exudes as she urges them “to be open to the presence of God in unexpected ways.”

The American practice of a children’s sermon is one of the things Stahlmann wants to take back to her native Germany. She will return to Bavaria next year and be assigned to a congregation. Meanwhile, the 30-year-old minister is spending a year in Maine working at Redeemer Lutheran Church, where the Rev. Elaine Hewes is pastor.

Stahlmann, the daughter of Wolfgang and Barbara Stahlmann, was born in Luxembourg but grew up in Vienna, Austria, and several cities in Germany. Although she regularly attended services and her mother had been a lay leader in the church the family attended, the young woman had not considered becoming a minister even though she had relatives who were “men of the cloth.” The ministry first occurred to her when a woman pastor was assigned t0 her family’s congregation.

“I was in my last year at [high] school when she came to our church. She became a really good friend of the family,” Stahlmann recalls. “I had never really thought about becoming a minister because the only ones I’d met were men.”

Ministers in Germany attend school longer than they do in the United States. They must earn the equivalent of a master’s degree and work for a year in a field outside the church. Training includes a 21/2-year internship in a congregation under the guidance of a mentor.

Stahlmann’s training included teaching religion in public schools (a required course in Germany), pastoral work in hospitals and preaching. After a rigorous exam, she was ordained and chose to work for a year outside Bavaria before being assigned to a congregation.

She had not planned to come to the United States. The newly ordained minister expected to work at a church in Europe or Scandinavia, but discovered the day after she passed her final exam that there were no funds left in the program. David Trobish, a man she knew by reputation but had never met, came to her rescue in what she says is “an act of divine intervention.”

Trobish is the New Testament scholar at Bangor Theological Seminary. Before moving to Maine, he taught at University of Heildelberg. Through his contacts in Germany, Trobish learned Stahlmann was looking for a congregation and approached Hewes at Redeemer about being a host for the young minister.

The church would provide housing and a car – Stahlmann receives a small salary from the Church of Bavaria. Hewes, whose permanent residence is in Blue Hill, offered to share her Bangor duplex with Stahlmann, and a parishioner lent her a car.

“My major concern was how well I would be able to work in English,” she says. “I hadn’t studied English since I’d been in school 15 years ago. … I didn’t expect a lot and I didn’t know what the congregation would want from me. I saw it as a big adventure.”

Stahlmann’s adventures have included a visit to the three small Lutheran churches in Aroostook County on the Fourth of July. In New Sweden, she was given a place of honor on the reviewing stand as the parade marched by, but was unsure of what to do as the American flag went by and everyone around her stood at attention and saluted.

She was fascinated by the deep sense of community and the desire to celebrate Swedish culture. To her, Lutheranism in Maine seems separated from Europe by more than the Atlantic Ocean.

The major difference between churches in Maine and those in Germany, she explains, are size and age. Bavarian churches date back to the 15th century and most congregations number 4,000 to 5,000. There are 2,000 congregants for each minister, according to Stahlmann, and a pastor’s weekly routine includes two or three funerals, teaching religion classes, and hours of administrative work.

“I feel I am at the right place here,” observes Stahlmann. “I really love the congregation and how they care for one another. Their life as a congregation is centered on the Sunday worship service. I am enriched by how this congregation celebrates.”

Hewes and Stahlmann describe their relationship as a “good match.” Both women say they are delighted by the ease with which they work together and the way their personal approaches to theology mesh.

“This fit has been a gift for both of us and people have felt an instant kinship with her. God orchestrated this,” Hewes says. “Christianne and I have a similar way of working. … We’re both very artistic and often use the arts to get into the heart of the Gospel readings every Sunday. We both believe in speaking theology through metaphor to get an evocative message across.”

Last month, Redeemer played host to Stahlmann’s parents who were delighted to see their eldest child embraced by a new congregation in a foreign country. The couple attended the church picnic, went sailing and sightseeing Down East, before returning home.

The congregation is just as enthusiastic about Stahlmann as is Hewes.

“I think it’s wonderful to have her here,” says Pat Kelly of Bangor, a member of Redeemer for 11 years. “She brings a different outlook and is so personable and outgoing. Pastor Chistianne amazes me constantly.”

Harry Madson of Holden, who has been a member of the congregation for 14 years, agrees.

“She makes you stretch and think out of the box,” he observes. “We hear a lot about worldwide stewardship, but Christianne brings that to life and makes it a reality. She’s wonderfully natural and has a marvelous voice that’s enhanced our music program. We are enjoying her immensely.”