Everything about today has been surreal...absolutely surreal. What a way to celebrate All Saints Day! The culmination of the Whittenberg 2017 Congress took place in the All Saints Church / Castle Church in Wittenberg where Luther nailed his 95 theses. The ride over to Wittenberg from Berlin took about about two hours. We went further and further into the countryside. Much of the lay of the land looks very much like North Carolina and the windmills and cottages reminded us of Pennsylvania.
We finally arrived several minutes before our service was to begin and were able to snap a few pictures outside.
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| This is the exterior of the church. |
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The door where Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses.
This is not the original door.
This is a form of metal and the theses have been inscribed on it. |
Entering the church was....indescribable. All I have for you is "surreal". The entire experience was surreal. Everyone was snapping photos like crazy and then we dutifully occupied our pews because we only had a small amount of time to conduct our service.
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| Inside Castle Church / All Saints Church |
Leonard Sweet gave some poignant comments about Luther and the significance of the words he spoke at the Diet of Worms when he said, "Here I Stand." Sweet suggested that 500 years later, perhaps it is time for the church to make a new statement, "Here We Go!"
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| Leonard Sweet |
James O. Davis challenged everyone present to covenant to dream to do things that others have not done and to converge together for the purpose of carrying the message of Christianity to the rest of the unreached people groups in the world.
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James O. Davis
Kenneth Ulmer....good gracious. That man mounted the pulpit inside of the Castle Church and preached. I mean...he preached. He actually spoke the first part of his sermon in monologue as if he were Luther. It may have been the sermon of his life. He reflected on several passages of scripture that were known favorites of Luther and brought it into the present by confronting some of Luther's shortcomings and imagining how his vision might extend. We had C-H-U-R-C-H inside that historic structure tonight and after reading about how Luther is said to have preached, I had to wonder if the tenor and tone and response was more similar to what it would have been like 500 years ago than it often is now. The only way to try to explain is to show you on video. You can view it on my facebook page and I encourage you to do so.
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We ended the service by singing Luther's famous hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" and speaking the "FINISH Commitment" together which was drafted for this occasion.
THEN --- As if all this were not enough - we exited OUT of the reformation door signifying entrance into our own commitment to reformation.
THEN - Chip and I were some of the last to board our bus. So, we had to split up. I ended up sitting beside the amazing Rev. Dr. Jo Anne Lyon, General Overseer Emeritus of The Wesleyan Church. She spoke on intercession yesterday. We talked non-stop for the entire ride home about the similar histories of our respective denominations and our shared interests in social justice. I learned so much in those two hours and also found a wonderful mentor/friend. I sure hope we get to cross paths again.
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| Me & Jo Anne Lyon |
THEN to top it all off....
we sat down for supper and received a message that Charlie (our little Yorkie who had run away and gotten lost) had been found! We are thankful for friends and family who have encouraged and comforted the children and done all they could to help look for him as we have been SO far away.
Like I said --- it's been an absolutely surreal day and I am very grateful for it.
We are heading to bed feeling very blessed.
