The pastor and his flock Evangelical pastor Olaf Latzel, born of Roman Catholic parents in 1967, was called to the ministry after his conversion and eventually became pastor of an Evangelical Church in Bremen, north Germany. His small congregation soon began to grow rapidly and has now reached over four hundred worshippers which is quite a record for this district far away from Germany’s traditional ‘Bible Belt’ in the Wuppertal-Siegen area. His flock puts this down to Pastor Latzel’s Bible exegesis and pastoral care and his teaching concerning the missionary responsibilities of all Christians. His members adore him and delight in his gospel preaching. Latzel thus emphasizes itinerant preaching, and organizes group Bible… Full Article
Posts Tagged Germany
Church News from Germany
Mar 5
Each year, the German Book Exchange (Börsenblatt des Deutschen Buchhandels) publishes statistics concerning the sale of books in Germany. Those for 2010 have been published today (4th March) and prove interesting reading for Christians. Since 2009, there has been an all round increase of 18.4 percent sales in Christian books. Bible-buying has gone up by 14.6 percent. There has also been an increase of 0.7 per cent on Jewish literature and 2.9 percent on other non-Christian religious books. Sales of dictionaries of religions have dropped by 11.6 percent and prayer and hymnbooks by 6 percent. Coupled with this, there is a marked increase in the number of young people who wish to study theology. For instance, the… Full Article
The improved state of the Reformed faith in Germany Some vocal British Protestants bolster their arguments against their country’s European Union membership by pointing out that Europe, excluding Britain, is firmly in the hands of the Vatican. This thinking also opens up old wounds regarding Germany who is seen as the leading Roman Catholic country in Europe. Germany, after the Reformation, was never fully in Rome’s hands and Protestants and papists were equally numbered, but the new millennium has brought with it radical changes in Protestant-Roman Catholic ratios, especially in Germany. Whereas Rome is growing rapidly in power in England, Germany is experiencing a steady growth in Protestant influence and in many… Full Article
Letter on Scientology
Sep 15
English Churchman. Sir: As a German citizen and avowed opponent of Scientology, I must protest against the totally misleading title ‘Scientology gets Respectable Image’ in the equally misleading article on that subject (No. 7721). It gives the impression that Scientology is respected in Germany where measures against the sect are stricter than in most other countries, including Britain and the USA. Neither the Osnabrücker Zeitung, nor Wolfgang Bosbach, nor Angela Merkel nor the Coalition Government view Scientology as respectable but see the movement as most dangerous. However, Bosbach’s words have been translated into ‘High Noon’ jargon and combined with outdated internet information from the middle nineties of last… Full Article
The ‘Enlightenment’ that brought a deluge of immorality The French occupation of Germany under Napoleon’s Dictatorship caused political, social and religious unrest which lasted well into the present century. The Corsican upstart conscripted Germans and compelled them to suppress their fellow-countrymen or forfeit their lives. One man by the name of Oncken, a citizen of Varel in present Schleswig-Holstein, decided to resist the tyrannical French and campaigned to overthrow the occupational forces. Napoleon’s spies, however, were everywhere and Onckenwas compelled to flee to England to carry on his work of liberation in exile. On January 26th, 1800, a son was born to the ex-patriate whom, in God’s providence, he was… Full Article
