Happy Reformation Day! It is a real treat to spend this day in Saxony, the home of the Reformation. Here, it is actually a state-wide holiday, where everyone gets the day off of work. To celebrate, we had a special festival worship service this morning. Of course, we sang all of the great hymns of the Reformation.
It is interesting how important Reformation Day is, even though Germany is not particularly Lutheran anymore. For example, Pastor Torgerson was telling me a story recently. He is the pastor who is leading the new Lutheran visitor’s center that the LCMS is starting in Wittenberg. He was on the streets of Wittenberg, home of Luther himself, and he asked a couple passersby who Martin Luther was. One of them answered—in all seriousness—that Martin Luther and Moses played together at the foot of the cross. He wasn’t sure whether he should laugh or cry. It definitely shows the need for the Gospel, even here in Luther’s own backyard.
Festwochenende
This past weekend was a very special event in the life of our congregation. After six years of hard work, we have finally restored our church building to its former beauty. They replaced the coal-burning heating system, rebuilt the damaged roof, repaired tons of water damage, remodeled the sanctuary (as well as the sacristy, kitchen, all purpose room, and everything else), and restored the organ. In celebration, we had a weekend of special concerts, church tours, food, singing, and the like. It was my job to handle a lot of the publicity for the event. I stuffed hundreds and hundreds of pamphlets in people’s mailboxes. Also, I made a PowerPoint presentation of all the best pictures of the hard work that went into fixing up our church. Beyond that, I tried to be generally helpful, and I talked to lots of people who attended, both members and guests. Overall, I think that it was a success, though I would have liked to see more people from the community come and see our church. We are all very thankful for the blessings of this beautiful building and—even more—for a faithful congregation, enthusiastic for the Word of God.
First Sermon
The previous Sunday (21 Oct) was a major milestone in my vicarage. I preached my very first sermon in German. With lots of help from German reference books and with Pastor Rehr’s careful proofreading, I was able to compose a solid sermon. I practiced it many times, and I felt entirely ready. Then, I got a call very early on Sunday morning. Pastor Rehr was very sick, and he would not be able to come to worship. We threw something together quickly—one of the elders led the service, and I preached. In spite of this last second confusion, the delivery of the sermon went well. I received lots of kind feedback from the congregation. Several elderly ladies proudly declared that they could understand my sermon without the need to read along. So, I’m glad that my accent did not get in the way. It was a wonderful feeling to have taken on a hard challenge and to have been successful. If anyone is curious to read my sermon, please send me a message, and I will pass it on to you.
Krista’s Birthday
My sermon was also Krista’s birthday present. Okay, not really, but they did fall on the same day. Krista’s birthday was fun. We had a couple of friends from language school over after church for brunch. I also baked a chocolate cake from scratch, which turned out well. Krista was also excited by all of her presents, especially the packages that she got from the States. Then, we continued the festivities on Tuesday, when we went to the opera. We saw Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) at the Dresden Semper Oper, one of the most famous opera houses on earth. It was a great production, and Krista has wanted to hear this particular opera for a long time.
Other Stuff
I’ve been too busy to blog much lately, but here is a quick rundown of our other activities:
We borrowed a TV, and so now we get the interesting cultural experience of watching TV in another language. They watch a lot of American sitcoms (dubbed into German) and a lot of reality TV. I’m getting pretty good at figuring it all out.
Our internet connection has been terrible lately. I won’t go into all of our woes, but we’re pretty frustrated. We apologize if we are not able to call or e-mail very consistently.
I’ve spent a lot of time making house visits lately. Pastor Rehr appreciates having someone else around, so that we can divide up the visits and keep in closer touch with the members of the congregation. One interesting note is that Pastor sends me to the houses of the people who have birthdays. Also, it is interesting that Germans take their birthday desserts very seriously. You are expected to have at least 2 pieces of cake, and you may well offend someone if you don’t take 3. As always, the people here have been most kind to me.
You never know where your picture will end up. About a month ago, we went to Halle to see the SELK brass festival. I ran into a friend from seminary, Brandt Klawitter, who just started a vicarage of his own here in Germany. A couple weeks later, I was informed that my picture had been published in Christian News. It turns out that a picture that Brandt took was posted on his blog and then subsequently put in Christian News article. How about that?
You can read more about Brandt's adventures on his blog: http://klawittertravels.blogspot.com/
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