Pastor Johannes Block can consider himself Martin Luther’s successor. He’s the vicar of Stadtkirche St. Marien zu Wittenberg, Luther’s own church. The church is the St. Peter’s Basilica of Protestantism.
Here, Luther preached his incendiary sermons against Vatican corruption that led to the Reformation and the rise of the Protestant movement. It is where Protestant pastors were first ordained.
But on a typical Sunday, Block looks out over a mere 50 to 100 people in the pews: a tiny number in a city of 135,000, especially one whose official name is Lutherstadt (Luther City) Wittenberg. Indeed, nowhere in Germany is the share of Protestants lower than right here in Luther’s homeland.
Read it all from Newsweek.
In Martin Luther’s Church the Pastor Asks: Where Have All the Protestants Gone?
Pastor Johannes Block can consider himself Martin Luther’s successor. He’s the vicar of Stadtkirche St. Marien zu Wittenberg, Luther’s own church. The church is the St. Peter’s Basilica of Protestantism.
Here, Luther preached his incendiary sermons against Vatican corruption that led to the Reformation and the rise of the Protestant movement. It is where Protestant pastors were first ordained.
But on a typical Sunday, Block looks out over a mere 50 to 100 people in the pews: a tiny number in a city of 135,000, especially one whose official name is Lutherstadt (Luther City) Wittenberg. Indeed, nowhere in Germany is the share of Protestants lower than right here in Luther’s homeland.
Read it all from Newsweek.