Unity through Repentance: The Journey to Wittenberg 2017
Appendix 3
Biographical Sketches
By Amy Cogdell
These five biographical sketches were originally posted by Amy on her blog, Passing Through Baca,
between June 2018 and May 2019.
Franziskus
Franziskus was the highest ranking Catholic on the Wittenberg 2017 council. He is a retired bishop, a gifted retreat leader, a brilliant intellect, and perhaps the most childlike soul I know. To my shame, I did not speak with Franziskus the first two years of our gatherings. I felt intimidated. Just looking at him from across the room, I could feel his genius. He was often deep in thought, quiet, thin with sharp facial features. Franziskus was not comfortable conversing in English, and I was too shy to find a translator and engage him. After all, what did I have to say to a bishop?
But our relationship changed in Rome. Franziskus was given the difficult task of presenting the Catholic doctrine of indulgences to an audience composed mostly of Protestants. The talk was scheduled early in our meeting, just after lunch on our first full day. I made my way early to the meeting room to pray, as did Franziskus. We met in the hallway and he pulled me aside, asking me to pray for him. Me? Pray for a bishop? I was uncomfortable to say the least. But how could I refuse? So I put my hand on his shoulder, the Holy Spirit came and met with us both. I will never forget his talk that day. It was full of humility and grace. It opened hearts, conversations, and understanding which paved the way for beautiful times of repentance and worship later in the week. Those brief moments in prayer also forged a bridge in my soul to my brother, an open door which has led to an ever deeper love.
“Losing my memory was a rather fine experience.”
Franziskus carries the sensitivity of a poet along with his more academic gifts. The way he interprets scripture fascinates me. He feels the movement of the gospel – where the Spirit is coming from and where it is going, what the Spirit is emphasizing in the moment. He also notices details. I have learned from him that nothing is wasted in scripture. Details are not to be overanalyzed or fit neatly into symbols. But they serve the mystery. In March of 2017, I worked up the courage to ask Franziskus to pray for me, to ask the Lord for the grace he carries in understanding scripture. He did, and he reminded me, “Amy, the Word of God is Living and Active.” Immediately I understood – Jesus is the Word, He is active, and He is available to teach us scripture Himself.
At our final Wittenberg gathering, Franziskus and I taught together, one message in two parts - God is Preparing a Wedding Feast. Franziksus went first. The lighting on the stage was bright and rather disorienting. At one point in his talk, Franziksus looked out at the audience and forgot where he was. But it did not phase him. He had his notes, so he carried on to the end, sat down and recovered his bearings.
Two days later, Franziskus led prayer for our group in the Wittenberg Catholic parish. When our meeting was over, Franziskus walked out into the street, took one of our fellow council members by the arm and asked, “Excuse me, sir. I do not know where I am. Could you tell me what town I am in and help me find my hotel room?” Franziskus did not recognize his friend and had no memory of the day’s events.
Thomas and I received a message that Franziskus was not well. We rushed down to the courtyard of the building where we stayed to meet him. Our friend Cecily was with him. Together we recounted the day’s events – we had walked in procession with a cross through the town, first to the Lutheran church and then to the Catholic church. Sr. Joela spoke in the Stadtkirche and then he prayed blessings on the Catholics in Wittenberg at St. Mary’s. The whole time Franziskus smiled broadly, saying “Oh, that sounds very good!” But he remembered nothing. We asked if he needed medical attention, but those who knew him better assured us he needed rest most of all. This had happened before.
We were concerned for our friend, but early the next morning at our leadership meeting, Franziskus showed up, ready to lead the final commissioning service. Verena smiled when she saw him and said, “It is the resurrection!”
All the members of the council stayed in Wittenberg an extra day after the meetings. To quote Verena again, we needed “a meal together and a good cry.” After a leisurely breakfast, we gathered for one last debrief, the final meeting of our seven year journey together. Sixteen of us sat around a large conference table sharing our most treasured memories from the gathering. What Franziskus said that day became one of mine.
“Well,” he recalled, “Losing my memory was a rather fine experience. On the first day I spoke about becoming a living icon – a picture of God’s grace. And so I am thankful for a chance to practice what I believe. Someday my body and my brain will shut off. Someone will come to lead me home, and then I will hear friends say, ‘This is the resurrection!’”
The whole time he spoke, he was grinning like a happy child. His body was perfectly relaxed, at rest in his Lord. Franziskus had indeed become a living icon to us, his glory almost visible like a halo. Here was a brilliant man who had no fear of losing his mind because he knew Jesus held him in safety. His peace glorified Jesus, challenged us all, and drew us together in love. That morning we all stepped into the mystery of John 17. “I have given them the glory that You have given Me, that they may be one as we are one.” Thank you, Franziskus, for leading the way!
Sister Joela
Prophets are intense.
No doubt about it.
Sr. Joela is a prophet
We met Sr. Joela in Ottmaring, Germany, at the first gathering of Wittenberg 2017. At that time it was more of an idea than an initiative. The purpose of our gathering was to present the proposal of a prayer gathering on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation to German spiritual leaders, both Lutheran and Catholic. I am not sure how Sr. Joela heard about the gathering. I do not recall her being on the list of expected guests. Somehow she caught wind of the meeting and decided to come. When news of her imminent arrival spread through the room, we could feel the buzz. Clearly she was a woman of influence.
Thomas was assigned the honor of meeting Sr. Joela at the train station. In her simple tan habit, she was not hard to spot. Cutting through all introductory pleasantries, she looked up into Thomas’ eyes and asked, “Are there any Messianic Jews here?”
Thomas was thankful he could answer truthfully, “Yes, there are a couple of Jews here.”
“Good,” she responded. “Otherwise I would have to get back on the train and go home.”
She was looking for a significant spiritual response to the anniversary of the Reformation, she explained. She was not interested in ceremonies. Our inclusion of the Jewish voice was a sign to her that this was the group where she belonged.
Sr. Joela is a member of the Marienschwestern, a Lutheran religious order founded by Basilea Schlink on the heels of WWII. Even before the war, Schlink dared to speak out against Hitler. In Nazi eyes, perhaps, the young woman was not enough of a threat to bother. In reality, I believe, God shielded her, hiding her away in His great love for a time and purpose close to His heart. After the war Sr. Basilea would lead Germany in repentance. She would preach and write books which the Spirit used to open many eyes to the Father’s love for His people Israel. Over the course of her life, hundreds of thousands would travel to the little convent In Darmstadt to receive teaching and blessing. Mother Basilea carried a deep love for the cross. She understood the necessity for the Bride to stay close to Jesus in His suffering, through repentance and intercession. Mother Basilea was a prophet. Sr. Joela is her true daughter.
Our Wittenberg gatherings were shaped by Sr. Joela’s prophetic voice. As a faithful Lutheran she brought forward the travesty Luther’s anti-Semitic rhetoric. She spoke fearlessly of Lutheran cooperation with the Nazis, with the hope of cleansing and renewal, never division. She challenged all of us Gentile Christians to honor Jesus as King of the Jews, a title which He loves and will return to fulfill in all its glory. And in our last gathering she insisted on the centrality of the cross. Jesus crucified is our hope for healing, purification and unity.
Of all the characters in the scripture, the one Sr. Joela most envies is the donkey which carried Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. “I want to be Yeshua’s donkey,” she says. She wants to hear His people say, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD.” I believe the Father has heard her. Today Sr. Joela is in her latter 70’s. She suffers constantly with back pain. She has carried the burdens of our Lord for many years, weeping over His sorrows, grieving over her own sins and those of the world. But she carries more than our Messiah’s burdens; she carries His glory as well.
Prophets are intense.
Their Father loves them for it.
Hanna the Storyteller
Our Father is a teacher; but first He is a storyteller. A very patient artist indeed, willing to spend millennia, perhaps eons as we count them, unfolding His plots and themes, developing His cast of characters, adorning His tapestry with motif and symbol. His story is alive, eternally present. The drama is real and all creation is caught up in the march towards its glorious end.
Jesus was also a storyteller. When He encountered hearts hardened to instruction, He often spoke in parables. Doubters threw their hands up in frustration; but those in tune with the Story passed down through the prophets felt their hearts thrill. Foreshadowing was moving quickly toward climax. The Good Shepherd was among them, gathering His sheep. The Vineyard Owner had come to gather His harvest. The merciful Father was searching for his prodigal children. The King’s Son was issuing invitations to His own wedding feast, and they were invited! This Messenger was the Story’s center.
Teaching calls us to action; story demands contemplation. Stories are multi-faceted and complex. They surrender their secrets slowly over time. This is why great stories are given to those who, with the help of the Holy Spirit, will ponder them. Mary lived in continual wonder and meditation upon the Story in which she played such a vital role. Hanna follows in her path.
Like our Savior, Hanna was born a Jew. And like Jesus, her life is both a participation in the suffering of her people and a prophetic witness to their hope. Hanna was born in 1932, the only child of a well-to-do merchant in the small town of Gemünd, Germany. When Hitler came to power, her family was stripped of their possessions and forced to move from their home in Gemünd to a Jewish section in the city of Köln. Reading the signs of the time, Hanna’s father made the heart-breaking decision to send his daughter away to England on the Kindertransport which rescued 10,000 Jewish children from central Europe. It was a decision which saved her life. Hanna’s parents were killed some months later in Chelmno, Poland.
Hanna’s Kindertransport papers
Hanna grew up angry, full of hatred towards Germans. She was never incorporated to a Jewish community in England, and as she did not form a close bond with her foster parents or their Christadelphian fellowship. As a young adult Hanna lacked a strong spiritual identity until Billy Graham preached a crusade in England. Everyone was abuzz with excitement, so Hanna decided to attend a local radio relay. It was a fateful day. She heard Jesus calling her into His Story, and she ran to Him.
Hanna ran with Jesus to Italy as a missionary with Operation Mobilization. Then she ran with Him to India where she met and married George. All the while she preached the Good News, proclaiming Christ’s story. And He, in turn, was perfecting her story – forming her, healing her, preparing her for the day He would ask her to write.
In the year 2000 Hanna returned to her home town of Gemünd. The Holy Spirit was calling her remember her parents and search out their stories. Speaking with historians and record keepers beckoned Hanna to explain her interest. Germans who heard Hanna’s story were deeply moved and asked for more. They wanted to know why she would return to a place which had caused her so much pain. This question allowed her speak of Jesus, the Jew who came to forgive us all.
Hanna’s exploratory trip to Germany turned into part time residence. For ten years the Mileys traveled back and forth between Gemünd and Phoenix. Hanna’s story served as the touchstone for a widening network of relationships in the Eifel region. As people listened, many discovered the grace to examine their own stories more deeply. Some found pain and shame which needed healing. Others recognized a grace and joy in Hanna which they desired. Her story was a door to the heart, a spiritual opening which often paved the way for George’s teaching gift.
Hanna & George, 2017
In time, friends encouraged Hanna to write a book. With the Spirit’s prompting Hanna consented, but writing was not an easy process, or a quick one. It required work and vulnerability, revision and persistence. Most importantly, it required sitting with the Father and allowing Him to revisit painful memories. No one can tell her story accurately unless she hears it first from the Author of Life. He is the only one sees our being from conception to fulfillment. He is the only one who knows how we fit into the drama of the Son and His Bride. God is moved, truly blessed, when we ponder His action, His wisdom, His presence, and His desires for our lives. He loves our listening, our questions, our attention to divine detail, and our trust.
I believe that pondering her own story has taught Hanna to discern the beauty of other stories. Whenever I speak with Hanna, I am aware how of intently she listens. Her penetrating eyes fix on me as I talk. In moments of silence, they close in concentration. She asks insightful questions and waits before speaking. But when she is ready to respond, her reflections are full of surprising insights and connections. In her presence I feel seen and known. I feel strengthened to embrace my own call. I feel her cheering me on.
Our Father blessed Hanna with a profound story, both painful and beautiful. She received the gift, like Mary, and pondered it her heart. Then she gave it back to her Lord and to all of us. Storytelling, like teaching, is a gift of love.
Hanna & George in India, 15 days married
George Miley
Crowds gathered around Him again, and once more, according to His custom, He sat down to teach them. - Mark 10:1
Our Father is a teacher. The Source of Wisdom delights to instruct those who will listen. His teaching is a gift of revelation and intimacy. When YHWH called Israel apart for Himself, He entrusted them with the Law. The Law was a window into His heart. It was a tutor, educating a nation to stand as a witness to the coming Kingdom.
How did the Lord teach Israel to worship? By loving Him alone. By honoring His Name. By resting on the Sabbath and ensuring their servants and animals would rest as well. By keeping faith with their spouses and speaking truthfully to one another. By guarding their inmost hearts and rejecting all covetous thoughts. God called Israel to walk with Him with by imitating His character. What a striking contrast to the demonic gods of other nations who reveled in drunkenness, prostitution and child-sacrifice!
Jesus is a teacher, like His Father. When Jesus came to earth, He revealed more about the Kingdom of Heaven. He opened our eyes to the love undergirding the Law. “You have heard it said, ‘You shall not kill,’ but I tell you whoever is angry with his brother shall be guilty.” And “You have heard that it said, ‘You shall not commit adultery;’ but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
George is a teacher, like his Savior. He is a man who has spent time with his Master, learning His ways. George has embraced the Word made flesh; now faithful instruction is in on his tongue.
When I was a little girl, my grandmother worked in a bank.
Some evenings she brought home boxes of quarters and dimes to roll in paper wrappers. I was fascinated by the way her fingers moved deftly through the jumble of coins bringing order. One day she showed me something even more wonderful – the coin sorter! It was a machine which swallowed large jars of mixed coins and spit them out sorted by type, neatly rolled and stacked in columns.
They way George thinks reminds me of that magnificent machine. Many times I have come to him with a jumble of thoughts in my head. Intuitively I knew they were related, but I could not articulate the connection I sensed. George would listen patiently, pause, then return all of my thoughts stacked neatly in order, with the truth I was seeking resting on top.
Here is one of my favorite examples. In the early days of Wittenberg 2017, when the work was only a concept, not yet a reality, Thomas and I visited George and Hanna at their home in Germany. At the time I was wrestling with my role as married woman in leadership. The Lord was speaking to me, revealing things which I wanted to share, but I was uncertain how to find my voice. On the one hand, receiving a gift and failing to use it seemed poor stewardship. On the other hand, asking to teach felt forward of me as a woman. It was not the model of feminine humility I grew up with. The thought of trading humility for a platform terrified me. So one morning over breakfast I asked George a favor. “George,” I said, “teach me about humility. What is humility?”
“Amy,” he replied, “humility is very simple. Humility is agreeing with the truth.”
Immediately my head cleared and my soul settled. I knew what the Lord wanted for me and from me. Those simple words silenced the voice of the enemy in my head and called me into deeper fellowship with the Father.
George’s teaching has moved many in a similar ways. In the context of Wittenberg 2017 George carried the message which made reconciliation a matter of personal discipleship. To be like Jesus is to be reconciled with the Father. When we are at peace with the Father, we will love our brothers and sisters. There are wounded places in our heart which impede this unity with God and one another. Jesus can heal these wounds. Without this healing, we cannot know the Father rightly, as Jesus did. And apart from communion with the Trinity, we cannot become ministers of reconciliation. We must sit at the feet of Jesus and let Him speak to us directly in order to be healed.
I have heard George teach variations on this message many times in the past decade. Each time the Spirit comes, confirming the words of His minister. Tears flow and healing begins in the hearts of those who hear. Most often these teachings end with George offering a fatherly blessing, touching and praying for those who were moved. George’s teaching is both a gift from Jesus and a participation in His work. Teaching is a gift of love.
George blessing the Wittenberg 2017 participants in Rome, 2015, in the chapel above the Catacombs
Hans-Peter & Verena: Servants of the Living God
Hans-Peter and Verena Lang were the brains behind Wittenberg 2017. The brawn as well. And for decades before we met them, they carried a spiritual torch of reconciliation which lit the fires of our gatherings.
In 2010 Thomas and I traveled to Europe for an Antioch Network retreat. George Miley had arranged some appointments for us with Lutheran pastors in Germany, opportunities to share our vision for a prayer gathering on the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. He warned us ahead of time that Germans tend to be reserved, wanting time to weigh the possible pitfalls of a proposal against its potential benefits. (I must say we learned a lot of wisdom from our German colleagues in this regard!) The first two pastors we met were cordial and affirming. In the years that followed, they attended our meetings, but they felt no call to join us in leadership.
Then at George’s urging, we shared our vision with the Langs. Though we had met them some months earlier, we did not know them well. We were aware they had participated in ecumenical efforts in Austria as lay people, like us. Hans-Peter was a forester and Verena a historian. The Langs listened quietly, carefully. When we were finished, they said they needed time to think and pray. The following evening they asked to meet with us privately. Much to our surprise, they presented us with an impressive list of European leaders, people they knew personally, whom they were willing to contact in support of this vision. That list included a Catholic bishop, the archdeacon of Vienna, the international leader of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, a leader of the German Lutheran charismatic movement, Fr. Peter Hocken, and the Austrian Round Table. My stomach grew queasy and my knees felt weak. I knew then and there that this Wittenberg thing was going to happen!
The Langs have always been people of vision. And hope. And action. In their early years they spearheaded a campaign to block construction of a nuclear power plant near their town. Verena told me, “this was a wonderful, active time, combined with courage, and a lot of hope that we can win the battle. Everybody at the right place - the men sticking anti-atomic posters in the night and we housewives in front of a table in the middle of our town distributing papers.” The Langs did indeed win that battle, and went on to win others.
The Langs’ daughter-in-law made this drawing of the anti-atomic campaign in celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary.
In 1997 Hans-Peter and Verena joined an ecumenical group of representatives from various Christian confessions in Austria. This group was called The Round Table, and in this setting, Hans-Peter learned that Austrian law discriminated against free churches. Catholic and Lutheran churches in Austria enjoyed rights and privileges not granted to evangelical, Pentecostal, or Anabaptist congregations. This injustice infuriated Hans-Peter and he worked alongside his free church brethren to see the law changed. It was not until 2003 that free churches had equal standing under Austrian law.
The Langs were seasoned warriors when we met them. Their zeal was tempered with a wisdom far beyond our own. We imagined Wittenberg2017 as a one-time gathering lasting several days – an occasion for lamenting division, praying as Jesus prayed for unity in the Church, and worshiping our Father together. We knew that such a meeting would take years of preparation. We would need time to share the vision, to work out logistics, to invite worship leaders and speakers. We did not understand the depth of spiritual preparation necessary.
Verena the historian informed us immediately that we could not simply show up in Wittenberg on Oct. 31, 2017. There were too many wounds leading to and proceeding from this tragic rupture. Without addressing those spiritual strongholds in prayer, we could not hope to see much fruit from a single meeting she warned. Thus Wittenberg2017 became a series of meetings, or pilgrimages of repentance, each addressing different aspects of our painful history.
We met in Ottmaring, in Volkenroda, in Trent, in Rome, and in Wittenberg in the years preceding 2017. As a community of Catholics, Protestants, and Mesianic Jews, we grew in our understanding of the issues which divided us. We grew in our understanding of one another. We mourned together and comforted one another. We prayed for healing of the wounds in the Body of Christ and for our Lord’s return. We learned to love one another.
Looking back on those years I see the great, unforeseen gift our Father invested in us through Verena’s wisdom. He gave us the gift of time together – time on the ground, time in prayer, time on the phone. In that time, though we were not consciously aware of the fact, He was forming us into a sacramental sign of the unity for which we longed.
How I wish every Christian might have the opportunity to work on a leadership team like the W2017 council! Serving with those mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers in the faith was a life-changing experience. In every meeting, every phone call, Thomas and I were learning from their examples. These saints were confident enough in their own gifts that they loved calling forth gifts in others. They felt secure enough in the Father’s love that they had no need of public recognition. They readily submitted to the wisdom of others. At the same time, they were willing to challenge one another in love, determined not to short-circuit the fullest blessing of God for quick or comfortable solutions.
Thomas and I continue to marvel that such an august group of leaders - Europeans with more experience, more connections, more education than our own - would look to us as leaders. This was especially true of the Langs who bore the logistical burden for our early meetings, who invited all the key players, who carried the game plan most of the time. Still they honored us, serving quietly behind the scenes without fanfare.
The Langs served this way because they are humble. They have become like their Lord, “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant.” Christ’s humility opened doors of grace and healing for the whole world. The Lang’s humility opened doors of grace for Wittenberg 2017.
Thomas and I wanted to offer Jesus a gift in W2017. We wanted to join Him in His prayer for unity, bringing many along with us. I believe Jesus saw our hearts and received our gift. Our Father also saw, and He gave His Son an even better gift. He answered Jesus’ prayer, in part, by making our group one.
Hans-Peter and Verena, I love you!
Shameless Promo Dept!
If you liked Amy’s writing for the biographical sketches, check out the memoir she is writing with her father Mike.