GEMEINDE UNTERWEGS BOCHUM
We mourn the loss of Volker Heidelbach
On October 3, 2026, our former senior pastor Volker Heidelbach suddenly and completely unexpectedly passed away at the age of 65 from a severe heart attack.
With deep sorrow and pain, we say goodbye to a wonderful person, deeply grateful for all that we were able to experience with him and learn from him.
We pray that our God will embrace and comfort us all.
Contact & Condolence Address
Would you like to send a message to the Heidelbach family?
Please send your letter to: Generalstraße 4, 44795 Bochum. GERMANY
If you are abroad, you can also send an email to: johannes.nowak@gu-bochum.de
(We will forward your email to the Heidelbach family in due course.)
Please direct all organizational inquiries exclusively to: johannes.nowak@gu-bochum.de
How can I support the Heidelbach family?
If you would like to support Kirsten and her family financially, you will soon find more information here.
How will we say goodbye to Volker?
As you know, Volker's life had a far-reaching impact. This has become even clearer to us these days. We have tried to deliver the sad news to Volker's friends and are in contact with people far beyond Bochum, the Ruhr region, and Germany. The outpouring of sympathy is immense, and the number of people who were blessed by Volker is vast. For many, Volker was a pastor, spiritual father, mentor, companion, and friend.
Beyond this huge spiritual family, he was also, of course, a husband, (father-in-law) and grandfather to a small circle of family. And this circle of people also desires a smaller – as Volker would put it, "private" – setting in which to say goodbye.
Therefore, there will be a farewell in two stages:
Burial in the cemetery
only for the smallest family circle
Celebration of Life
Together as one large spiritual family, we want to gather in a few weeks to commemorate Volker:
For saying goodbye and mourning, for remembering and giving thanks, for praising and glorifying our Creator for the certainty that we will meet again.
It will be a great celebration of life, entirely in Volker's spirit, to which everyone is invited: family, friends, community, companions on the journey.
More information regarding time and location will follow as soon as possible.
Jesus prays:
"The glory you have given me I have now given to them, that they may be one just as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity, that the world may know that you sent me and that they are loved by you as I am loved by you. Father, I want those you have given me to be where I am and to be with me, so that they may see my glory—the glory you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world."
John 17:22-24