Ecumenical Guesthouse 2017- Recap

On Tuesday June 5, 2017, we arrived in the historic town of Wittenberg, Germany. With the beautiful market square in the background, we made our way to our tent and introduced ourselves to the other congregation members from South Africa and Costa Rica. Then, we unpacked our suitcases and set to work preparing our booth – complete with a banner of the Toronto skyline, bilingual speech bubbles, and an inflatable moose head!

Our schedule from then on was fairly consistent. At the start of the day, one of our three congregations would lead the morning devotion, sometimes followed by a group activity. The majority of the afternoon was spent conversing with individuals who came into our tent, and of course handing out free samples of pancakes with maple syrup (freshly made by Tanya every morning). A few members from the EKD also conducted couch interviews once or twice a day, the most notable being those with EKD-officials Nikolaus Schneider and Margot Käßmann. At the end of the day, a different congregation would lead the evening devotion, and after cleaning up we would head out for the night – often going out to eat dinner together.

During our spare time, we also explored a few of the exhibitions taking place in Wittenberg, including the Lutherhaus (Luther’s home, now turned into a museum), Reformation 360 (a panorama of what Wittenberg might have looked like in 1517), and “Luther und die Avantgarde” (a contemporary art show). We also had time to see two magnificent churches in downtown Wittenberg – the Stadtkirche, where Martin Luther preached, and the Schlosskirche, featuring the infamous door to which Luther pinned his 95 theses. We were even able to stay for a church service in the Schlosskirche on Sunday. Also of note was the Luther Wedding, a medieval festival celebrating the union of Martin Luther and Katharina von Bora – which, lucky for us, was happening the weekend of our visit. The streets of Wittenberg were filled with individuals in medieval costumes, selling goods out of medieval-themed stands, with bands playing medieval music. It was truly a trip back in time!

All in all, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Don’t hesitate to speak to Anita, Tanya, Manya or myself if you would like to hear more about this trip  A big thank-you goes out to the EKD for giving us the chance to represent Canada in Wittenberg! #DankeDirk.

Jocelyn Sommerfeld

Please watch the video to see more photos from the trip!