From the mission field: Church plant in Germany

The Rev. Jonah Domenichelli distributes the Sacrament to members of Spangdahlem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany in September 2024. (Isabella Domenichelli)

This month’s report comes from the Rev. Jonah Domenichelli, LCMS missionary to Germany.

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).

St. Luke’s description of the activity of the first congregation of believers after Pentecost is very telling. Not only does it give us the basic rubric for what we 21st-century Lutherans would call the Divine Service, but it also describes the desire of the newly baptized saints who were gathered together. They didn’t gather begrudgingly, but willingly, on account of the hope that was in them. They gathered together not simply to be entertained or because they had nice facilities or something new and catchy, but because the Holy Spirit had called, gathered, enlightened and sanctified them into one Body. The Spirit bore witness about Christ and brought to their remembrance all that Jesus had taught. So, they gathered in fellowship because they knew that their Lord and Savior promised to be among them under His name, declaring His Gospel Word and feeding them with His life-giving Sacraments through the hands and mouths of His servants until He returned.

This work of Christ continues in His church today. This is why the saints of the newly formed Spangdahlem Evangelical Lutheran Church — a plant of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany — gather. They devote themselves willingly to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers because they know these things have Jesus for them. He has come to them to forgive their sins and grant them life eternal. So, we give thanks to God for what He has done, not because we developed something new, catchy or different, but because our Lord has brought together His faithful in His name.

Please continue to lift this little congregation up in prayer. Please pray that we might find a place to worship and devote ourselves “to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Pray that the Spirit would continue to call more believers to receive Christ where He delivers the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation with utmost certainty — in His Divine Service, for Jesus assured His disciples, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). This is why we gather. This is why we’re ready to give an account for the hope that is in us, because our Lord is there in Word and Sacrament. Indeed, “this is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (Psalm 118:23a).

Posted Jan. 17, 2025