Dear members of the International Castle Church Community,
We send warm greetings from the Castle Church in Lutherstadt Wittenberg today, and we would like to report to you and give you insights into how we are doing in the community! The fellowship in the Holy Spirit connects us around the globe.
As is our tradition, we have celebrated and honored the International Castle Church Community on the Feast of Pentecost. You can review and listen to the Pentecost Sunday service on the ICCC homepage at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_9pvhB_byE
The wonderful church music came from Cantor Thomas Herzer and Frank Liebscher, who provided musical accompaniment for the service on saxophone. The service was led by Christoph Maier, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ICCC, and the sermon was preached by Stefan Günther. In the annual meeting of the board of trustees of the ICCC we were hosted by the Protestant Akademie on June 2. We discussed the last yearʼs finances with donations in the amount of 1.034,00 €. We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all donors for this support! The communion vessels (chalices and paten) purchased the year before last from the donations could not yet be dedicated due to the Corona pandemic and because single chalices had to be used due to hygiene regulations. Now the four chalices are to be altered so that they can be used also as purging chalices. Furthermore, they will be engraved with the words: Donated by the International Castle Church Community and will then be officially consecrated at the Pentecost service in 2023. I would like to invite you now to this service next yearwith all my heart.
INTERNATIONAL CASTLE CHURCH FELLOWSHIP
Next year we are planning an international conference together with the Protestant Academy, the Protestant Preacher's Seminary, the EKD and other partners. This conference will begin with the Pentecost service on 5/29/2023 at 5 p.m. in the Schlosskirche and end on 5/31/2023. It will include a mix of educational and tourist activities.
The congregation of the Castle Church and its guests are happy that the Corona restrictions have been largely lifted. So we are again celebrating our services with many people each Sunday and Evensong two times per month on Sunday at 5pm. On Thursdays at 12 noon a half-hour organ concert takes place each day. The many musical groups at the Schlosskirche are also rehearsing again. Connecting with people near and far can now take place again on a personal level. At Pentecost, Superintendent Gabriele Metzner and Mr. Mads Olesen from the Schlosskirche congregation were in Hadersleben in southern Denmark. The cathedral congregation there and the Schlosskirche congregation have been connected since the nineties. At that time, the cantor and the provost of the first town in Denmark to adopt the Reformation in 1526 came to the Schlosskirche and asked the provost of the Kurkreis if they could become partners. This was, so to speak, the birth of a wonderful partnership. Highlights of the mutual meetings and conversations included the visit of the Wittenberg Gospel Choir in Haderslev in 2011, during which the partner tree to the Hadersleben tree was planted in the Luther Garden. In 2016, a Danish delegation came to Wittenberg on the occasion of the dedication of the renovated Castle Church and the handing over of the red antependium, which was made by Queen Margarethe II of Denmark.
We are very pleased that you remain connected to our international community at the Schlosskirche. Even with a small donation you help us to keep this community and the work at the Castle Church alive. For the big projects in the coming year, we are of course also happy about large donations.
Sincere greetings from Lutherstadt Wittenberg