Partners in Mission:
For the next several weeks my posts will be discussing and sharing about the trip to Germany that my spouse, the Rev. Kendra Mohn, PhD and I hosted May 26-June 6, 2024. This trip included members of her congregation, NT-NL lay leaders, and 7 rostered leaders from NT-NL with a total of 35 in our traveling party. Traveling abroad and seeing these historic sites is a gift and we are grateful to share and learn about our heritage of faith…
Landing in Frankfort we drove immediately to Mainz for a tour of this historic city. Here we saw the Cathedral and were reminded it was Albrecht von Brandenberg, Archbishop of Mainz, to whom Martin Luther addressed the 95 theses. Those theses intended for a debate about the use and sale of indulgences of which Albrecht was prolific. Mainz was at that time a powerful bishopric within the Holy Roman Empire .
Mainz was also the home of Johannes Gutenberg, who printing press revolutionized as well the way that documents such as the 95 theses, and the indulgences they protested, were spread.
The Gutenberg Museum in Mainz provided a wonderful lesson on how the printing press worked as well as a collection of beautiful original texts. It was also a reminder that while we tend to lump Luther and Gutenberg into the same time period in fact Gutenberg lived almost 100 years before Luther.
We then traveled to Worms where Luther had his famous “Here I Stand” moment before Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. While the building where the Imperial Diet took place no longer stands a remembrance of Luther has been placed where he might have stood. Allowing us, even a bishop from Texas-Louisiana, to put our feet into Luther’s shoes for a moment. It was powerful to walk the streets of Worms, visit the churches, and think about the power and privilege that Luther and his supporters were opposing. Rome may have been far off, but the power of the archbishop here was very real, particularly with the Holy Roman Emperor in town.
We also took time to enjoy the hospitality and abundance of this section of Germany. Our dinner was at a local family owned winery which produces fine white wine. We enjoyed an outdoor meal before heading back to our hotel.
Travel, particular international travel, is a distinct privilege and should never be taken for granted. It also gives us new perspectives. Being in Mainz and seeing how powerful Albrecht was. The wealth of the community, the ability to spread news through the printed word, was educational again to realize what Luther and those who supported him were up against. They were not the majority nor did they have the political or ecclesial power, yet they trusted in the Word of God. That temporal estates, be they of their time or ours, are not the last word. God’s Word, the living Word of Jesus, Alpha and Omega, is both the beginning and the ending Word.
We had a wonderful first couple days, if a bit rainy at times, as we witnessed this heritage. Our conversations centering on how having seen these places does it influence ourselves as we live into our faith and life today in our synod and beyond.
More to come…
Bishop Gronberg