Wittenberg English Ministry - WEM

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Wittenberg English Ministry - WEM

The Wittenberg English Ministry offers worship services in English for tourists who visit Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Germany, the home of Dr. Martin Luther.

The Wittenberg English Ministry (WEM) offers a weekly schedule of worship services in English for tourists from around the world who visit Lutherstadt Wittenberg, the German city where Dr. Martin Luther, the Great Reformer, preached, taught, and carried out the Reformation of the Church in the 1500's. All services are specially designed to enable each worshiper to celebrate the connection of their

faith in Jesus Christ with their heritage of the Reformation. These services are lauded by countless people as the crowning highlight of their visit to "Luther's Town." For more information, see www.WittenbergEnglishMinistry.com

30/08/2026

Stammtisch at the Old Latin School celebrates and strengthens ties to the Wittenberg community. Thursday evening was a perfect setting for conversation and refreshments. Worship in the Mother Church of the Reformation Saturday concluded with a powerful postlude played by Kantor Christoph Hagemann. Germans, Americans, Chinese, and an individual of Russian descent, all gathered at the foot of the cross to receive the message of Grace.

29/08/2026

WEM Update: Devotional Services Aug. 26-28.

WEM welcomed Pr. A.J. Striffler from Wellington, Florida, who arrived Tuesday to lead services for the next two weeks. Wednesday’s service had a wonderful surprise. A young woman attending announced that she would be baptized on Sunday! Although this would take place elsewhere, we rejoiced with her at the working of the Holy Spirit in her life. Worshippers continue to be drawn from around the world. Citizens of Germany, the USA, the Netherlands, China were among those nations this week. After the service on Friday, Pr. AJ.‘s fluency in German was put to use, as a worshipper expressed the burden of a loss in her life. Pr. Striffler assured her in her native language that God does not walk away from us even when we may stray from him. She and others also heard a message of grace based on the first chapter of Romans.

These two snippets affirm the importance of this ministry. No doubt there are many other untold and unheard stories of how the preaching of God’s Word here in Wittenberg has impacted people’s lives.

24/08/2026

Beautiful sounds from the Castle Church Saturday. Princeton Seminary choir.

24/08/2026

WEM Update - Aug. 24

WEM week closed Saturday with some pleasant surprises. The Castle Church Kantor, Phillip Spielmann, ordinarily plays for Saturday services. This Saturday, it was augmented by the touring Princeton Theological Seminary Festival Choir and SET praise band that provided pre-and post-service music as well as an Offertory. What a treat to hear exceptionally talented musicians offer their gifts in praise of the Lord!

This service included worshippers from India, Germany, Taiwan, and the USA. The Lector, a Hindu convert, told us of an extraordinary intervention by the Holy Spirit through the Word that led him to Christ. Two Germans out of curiosity also attended the service. They informed us that neither had attended a church service previously and they loved it! The sermon seemed custom made for them. Pr. Cliff’s message continued to proclaim God’s grace to us in Christ, healing our brokenness - the reason for this ministry in a nutshell.

We thank Pr. Cliff and Mary Ann Herd for their faithful service and wish them Godspeed as they return to Tennessee. And so, the cycle continues when Pr. Striffler is welcomed and begins his service.

22/08/2026

WEM - Weekly Highlights:

The second week of Pr. Cliff Herd’s tour began on a rainy Wednesday that diminished our attendance. In spite of the weather, strains of “A Mighty Fortress” still filled the air! The weather and attendance rebounded nicely the next days as worshippers gathered from at least 4 continents, let alone countries, to hear the message of sin and grace, law and gospel, that no one can hear too often. What a wonderful time and place to hear the words, “Go in Peace, your sins are forgiven!”

Thursday’s Stammtisch at the Old Latin School places the ministry in the heart of the Wittenberg community and serves as a vehicle to cultivate longer and deeper relationships with locals. WEM is very dependent upon close and supportive ties to Wittenberg community that are nurtured at Stammtisch.

Wittenberg will be alive this evening celebrating the annual “Erlebnis” (experience) festival. It is our hope and prayer that the Gospel proclaimed clearly to souls gathered from the far corners of the earth in the WEM services will be an Erlebnis of joy, hope and peace.

17/08/2026

Wittenberg English Ministry - Weekly Highlights:

This was transition week in Wittenberg as deputy Directors, Harold and Susan Boxberger, completed their term after serving faithfully through some record high temperatures earlier in July. We thank God for their faithful service. Arriving on Saturday, the new team of Peggy and Jeremy Pera began their service. As is typical of this ministry, citizens of many nations, including Chile, Spain, The Netherlands, Scotland as well as the USA and Germany, attended the devotional services in the Kapelle and Castle church this past week. Pastor Clifford Herd‘s message to them was all about GRACE, the free gift of God rediscovered and proclaimed by Martin Luther and the Reformers. Pastor Herd and wife, Mary Ann, are from Chattanooga, Tennessee. His message in the City Church Saturday included a demonstration of how Jesus’s forgiveness cleanses us from all sin. (note picture) A highlight of Saturday’s service was a personal greeting from a Deacon of the Hong Kong Lutheran Church who was visiting along with his family.

Scripture readers from Nebraska, Iowa and Canada all felt honored to read God’s Word in such historic settings. Our sister/sister-in-law, Mary Gieseke, was the organist at the Kapelle last week. The Lord blessed us with a cold front Sunday after a mid-ninety degree day on Saturday.

We anticipate continued and varied ministry opportunities this week as the gospel will be proclaimed, and per God’s promise, will not return void!

09/08/2026

WEM Week Ending Aug. 8
It was a blessed week of worship in Wittenberg. Although attendance was lower than we hoped, Wittenberg English Ministry continued sharing the good news with those who gathered.

This week’s devotions centered on Romans 10:5–10 and Matthew 14:13–21, reminding us that God is with us in the boat and that we are called to keep going out and sharing the good news.

On Thursday, no one attended the service, but before leaving the Kapelle, Pastor Kerry asked us to sing the first and last verses of “A Mighty Fortress.” Well done, Pastor Kerry!

Pastor Craig Nehring, a past WEM volunteer, visited Wittenberg with a group of 15 and joined us for worship on Friday. He also took part in the devotional by reading the lesson for the day.

Our final worship attendees arrived near the end of Saturday evening’s service: a young family with three small children. As we were saying goodbye and thanking all those who had attended, the mother of the young family approached Pastor Kerry in tears. Their parents had returned home, and the family was now continuing their journey on their own. She asked Pastor Kerry to pray with them before they left. Pastor Kerry, wife Karen, Susan, Harold, and the family gathered at the front of the church and prayed together.
It was a wonderful way to close our worship week here in Wittenberg.

As the week closes, we give thanks to Pastor Kerry Aucker for leading worship these past two weeks. We pray for safe travel as he and Karen return home to Pennsylvania. It has been a blessing to have them here in Wittenberg.

02/08/2026

July has ended for Wittenberg English Ministry(WEM), and the ministry looks forward to continued worship in Wittenberg’s churches until Oct 31.

We give thanks for Pastor Kerry Aucker’s leadership in this week’s services at the Kapelle and Castle Church.

This week’s devotions centered on Ephesians 2, reminding us that God is rich in mercy and that His grace is unconditional, and on Matthew 14:13–21, where Jesus is revealed as the Bread for the World.

WEM Board member Beth Schabel visited Wittenberg this week and attended services. Beth and Karen Aucker assisted by reading lessons and leading prayers.
In a small-world moment, one Friday devotional attendee this week was not only from Olathe, Kansas—home of Deputy Directors Susan and Harold—but had also been a student in Susan’s 1992 sixth-grade classroom. Wow!

Visitors from 15 countries worshiped this week. On Saturday evening, bulletins were printed for the usual Saturday attendance—always a balance between preparing enough for worshipers and avoiding unnecessary waste.
When the church doors opened 30 minutes before worship, people kept arriving. Many attendees were part of a large LCMS youth missionary group spending the night in Wittenberg. Fortunately, the WEM office is across from the Castle Church, so we were able to print additional bulletins. By the time worship began, 103 people—many of them youth—from seven countries had gathered. Pastor Kerry’s sermon on the feeding of the 5,000 offered a fitting parallel to making a limited number of bulletins serve a much larger crowd.

As the week closes, a few photos from Saturday evening that show the Town and Castle Churches near sunset

29/07/2026

Wittenberg English Ministry welcomes Pastor Kerry Aucker and his wife, Karen, from Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, to Wittenberg. Pastor Kerry led his first devotional service today.
Be our safety through this day and help us in your name to begin the work of another week to your honor and our peace.

26/07/2026

Week ending July 25
As another week of Wittenberg English Ministry comes to a close, we give thanks for Pastor Paul Frank’s service to WEM these past two weeks. This week, services were held in all three Wittenberg churches we are blessed to use. We pray for safe travel as Pastor Paul returns to Arizona.

This week’s devotions centered on John 1 and Matthew 3: “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” May we see the world more clearly as we continue sharing the good news.

We are grateful to the Old Latin School in Wittenberg for continuing to welcome Wittenberg English Ministry to Stammtisch each Thursday evening.

This week, our English Ministry welcomed travelers from 14 countries. Although Saturday’s Town Church service had no organist, 34 worshipers sang our three hymns boldly under the leadership of WEM Deputy Director Susan.

“Go in peace, for we are God’s children.”

Adresse

Schlossplatz 2
Wittenberg
06886

Telefon

+493491498610

Webseite

http://www.wittenbergenglishministry.com/

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