Unity through Repentance: The Journey to Wittenberg 2017
Chapter 18
Rome, 2015
You’ve read Chapter 18, and you’re hungry for more? Don’t worry, we got you!
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US Website - Rome Meeting
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Podcast Page - Rome Teachings
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German Website - All Meetings
The Rome Gathering
What Does Singapore Have to Do With Rome?
Before each meeting, we sought to have the blessing of someone with spiritual authority in the local area, welcoming us in. We felt this was both right and important, for a reconciliation initiative. However, we were not having any success finding the right person in Rome to extend this blessing.
Then God took me to … Singapore!
I had traveled to Singapore several other times previously, for Athens Group. The first time I was there I connected with Terry & Belinda Tay, whom I had met in Antakya in 2010. They were lovely and gracious hosts, and always set up amazing dinners with key spiritual leaders in Singapore.
On my last trip in February 2015, I was assigned a driver to transport me from my hotel to the shipyard and back. I preferred the freedom of taking the excellent public transportation system in Singapore, which could drop me off at the Botanical Gardens, or Chinatown, or some other favorite spot for photography. To make it worse, as we drove back and forth the rough and tumble shipyard workers in the van poked fun at me and then laughed when I stayed silent. But one of these times, the driver unexpectedly spoke up in my defense – “Maybe he’s not saying anything because your comments are not worth responding to.” And we became friends. His name was Herman.
I discovered that Herman was Catholic, and I told him all about Wittenberg 2017, which amazed him. Since I would be in town over the weekend I asked if he would take me to mass with him. He was excited – “In all my years of driving, nobody has ever asked me that!” It became clear that he was one of those pillars-of-the-church laymen who are so invaluable, performing countless behind the scenes tasks – they know and are respected by everyone in the church. This would prove important.
Hanna with Belinda & Terry from Singapore, above Antakya (Antioch)
Me with Terry & Belinda in Singapore
Wittenberg 2017 dinner, Singapore. Belinda is top right, and next to her is Jason Mandryk, editor of Operation World
Herman and I, in front of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Singapore
Selfie with the papal nuncio!
When Herman picked me up for the 10 am mass, I learned that he had already gone to mass earlier – he had been called in as a substitute reader for the 8 am mass. We arrived and found our seats, and he explained that the ornate church in the altar area was reserved for the papal nuncio – the Vatican’s representative to Singapore. “Oh – and here he is!” – Herman was surprised to see the nuncio processing up the center aisle. I immediately knew – I must speak to this man. God had set this up.
When we were kneeling together at the end of the service, I leaned over and said – “Can I meet the nuncio?” Herman was surprised, but said – “We can try.” He led me outside to where the nuncio would usually be after the service, but he was gone. He inquired among several church leaders. “Hmmm … he may be changing out of his vestments, I know where that would be,” he said, and led me to an out-of-the-way building. Sure enough, there was the nuncio – talking to some parishioners. When Herman and I came up, the nuncio looked at them and said, “I must talk to these people.” And suddenly we were face to face!
“I am an American in Singapore on business. Can I take you to lunch? Or meet you later?”
“Why not right now?” he responded. “Let’s take a walk to get some privacy.” I was amazed at his gentle and generous offer.
I told the story of Wittenberg 2017 in a very abbreviated form. He listened as we walked together in the tropical heat. Then he asked, “What do you want from me?”
My answer surprised both me and him: “I would like to invite you to join us in Rome later this year.”
“Is this an official meeting?” he asked. I didn’t know how to respond to that. “Yes, I guess so” (it felt pretty official to me – though looking back now, I can see that was the wrong answer!)
“Then I cannot come, without permission from the Pope.”
Undaunted, I came back with a backup request: “Then I would like to ask you to bless our meeting.”
“That I can do,” he said with a warm smile. And right then and there His Excellency Leopoldo Girelli, papal nuncio to Singapore, said a prayer of blessing for the Rome gathering.
Then we posed together for a selfie, which represents one of my favorite “God moments” ever!
In the end, it was easy to get a blessing for the Rome meeting from a local spiritual authority. We just had to go to Singapore!
Oh, the ways of God are wonderful beyond telling …
Repentance in the Heart of St. Peter’s
If Verena was our history teacher regarding St. Peter’s, then Sr. Joela was for our last stop in Rome – the Arch of Titus. Here is what she taught us.
It was common for Roman generals to have a victory march when they returned to Rome with the spoils of battle. For Titus, the battle in question was the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 71, when he ruthlessly quelled a Jewish rebellion and destroyed the Jewish temple, as Jesus had prophesied. His army plundered the sacred objects in the temple, which became part of the treasure he triumphally carried back to Rome.
Titus died shortly after he returned to Rome, so it fell to his brother, the Emperor Domitian, to construct the triumphal arch. He engraved on it …
… the Roman army carrying the Menorah from the temple.
For Sr. Joela, this arch represents a tragedy. The heart and home of the Jewish people was ravaged, and the holy artifacts of the temple were carried off by the same Gentile nation whose soldiers hung on a cross the King of the Jews.
Even worse is what happened to these treasures. The Romans were building the Colosseum nearby (another building project!). Not only were the golden items from the temple not preserved – but instead they were melted down, including the Menorah, and the gold was used to finance the Colosseum. To finish completing this horrific circle, the Colosseum was then used as one place where Christians were put to death by the Romans. In this way, Sr. Joela explained, the Arch of Titus represents not only the degradation of God’s people, the Jews, but also the persecution of God’s people, the Christians.
The Catholics in our midst added to this description. Rome is the center of the Catholic universe – all good Catholics long to go to Rome. Here is the Vatican; here is the Sistine Chapel; here is St. John Lateran, “Orbis Ecclesiarum Mater et Caput”; here are the Catacombs, the remains of Peter and Paul, and the relics of countless saints; here are the leading universities training a new generation of priests; and here, of course, is the Pope, the Bishop of Rome.
But is Rome the center of the world from God’s perspective?
No! the Catholics among us said. We must give that place to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is where David ruled; where Jesus instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper and gave His life for the sins of the world; where James chaired the council of Acts 15, attended by both Peter and Paul; and, most importantly, where Jesus will return in glory to judge the living and the dead. At the end of the age, all eyes will be on Jerusalem, not Rome.
The Arch of Titus thus represents a wrongful re-centering of the life of the church. The objects of worship of the one true God are being relocated from Jerusalem, where they belong, to Rome, which subsequently (centuries later) begins to lay claim to the heart of Christendom. Today, a substantial portion of followers of Jesus see Rome as the center, not Jerusalem.
To this our Messianic brothers and sisters added their helpful perspectives:
Perhaps the plundering of the temple and the carrying of the spoils to Rome is the judgment of God. Over and over in the history of Israel, we see that Israel forsakes God; God judges Israel and takes her, or her treasures like the Ark of the Covenant, into exile; but Israel repents, and the exile is ended, with the nation of Israel being re-established in glory. Perhaps the Arch of Titus is a testament to the presence of God being carried, for a time, into exile – out of Jerusalem, into the gentile nations.
So as we traveled to the Arch of Titus, we were going not to repent – as we had at St. Peter’s – but to proclaim.
We would proclaim that Jesus was the King of the Jews, and that Jerusalem would one day again be the center of God’s activity on the earth. This proclamation was led by the Marienschwestern. Sr. Joela, Sr. Damiana, Sr. Laetitia, and others had designed a beautiful banner that proclaimed this truth. We carried this banner in confident joy to a point as close to the Arch of Titus as we could get (we arrived after it had been closed to the public). And our bold voices flowed out and over the triumphal arch and all that it represented, declaring the ultimate triumph of Jesus, King of the Jews:
You are the Lamb that was slain to take away the sin of the world;
You are the First and the Last and the Living One;
You hold the keys of death and of Hades.
And just as You have promised,
we are waiting for You to return to Jerusalem,
the city of the great King.
More Pictures from Rome
Entering the Catacombs
Mosaic outside the entry to the catacombs
Amy at the entrance to the San Callisto catacombs
Inside the San Callisto catacombs. (Photos are not allowed, so this is a picture from a book purchased at the gift store, of a room we had seen inside.)
Emerging from the fascinating tour of the catacombs
Worship service in the chapel above the catacombs
Henning (Lutheran pastor) sprinkling us with water, to remind us of our baptisms
After Henning sprinkled everyone, he in turn was sprinkled by Franziskus - a Catholic priest reminding a Lutheran pastor of his baptism!
Footwashing service, above the Catacombs
Fr. Peter (Roman Catholic priest) and Henning (Lutheran pastor), together washing the feet of the laypeople - above the Catacombs
Melchior wondering what is going on!
Miriam and Phillip playing worship music during the footwashing service, Catacombs chapel
Phillip leads in worship, Catacombs chapel
Phillip leads in worship, Catacombs chapel
Edi (Pentecostal pastor from Austria) prays for us, above the Catacombs
George Miley (Anglican priest) gives a benediction during the foot-washing service
Fr. Peter washing the feet of the laypeople in the Catacombs chapel
Burkard (Lutheran pastor) washing the feet of the laypeople in the Catacombs chapel
Phillip & Miriam leading us in worship
Emil (Messianic Jew) during the footwashing service
Tim & Hanna comforting Jill, who is overwhelmed by the beauty of God and the meaning of the foot washing service in the catacomb chapel
The view from our meeting place in Arricia, a small village south of Rome
We have arrived! Thomas & Amy in Arricia
Claire & Felicia on the forest path, Arricia
Selfie with the Mileys, Arricia
Friends in Arricia, from diffferent countries and different streams of the body of Christ
Austinites in Rome - Amy, Thomas, Phillip
Arricia is on a small volcanic mountain south of Rome, the circular lake is in the crater of the volcano - beautiful!
The Pope's summer palace, where Pope Benedict had retired to and was living, is right across the lake from us (Castel Gandolfo)
Rome selfie
Phillip in Ariccia
The view across the volcanic lake, at night - you can see the glow of the main city of Rome, in the distance
Worship before the exercise with the banners
Thomas introducing the exercise of the banners
Each of us cut on the banner with Jesus' name on it, as a confession that we each have played our grievous part in dividing the body of Christ
The beautiful banner of Jesus, King of the Jews, made by the Marienschwestern and transported to Rome
After the paper banner was cut, symbolically interposed it onto the triumphant banner of Christ as King
Repentance after Sr. Joela's talk - "We are all Romans"
Tori leading the youth woship team, who are leading us all in worship
Ludwig & Constanze, young Germans leading worship
Tori, a young American, leading Bridge Prayer
The youth leading ... beautiful!
The generations blessing one another
Inter-generational reconciliation
Cecily honoring and thanking George Miley for his investment in her life
Parents & daughter, expressing love, forgiveness, and blessing to one another
One of the iconic images of Wittenberg 2017
Cheryl enjoying Italian gelatto
Cheryl enjoying Italian gelatto
Phillip & Amy, with St. Peter's in the background
St. Peter's Square (which as you can see is actually round)
Swiss guard, St. Peter's
Tim & Jill in front of the mother church of the Jesuits
Amy in the statue of Pope John Paul II
Sunday afternoon tourism, in front of the famous Pantheon in Rome
Amy & Thomas enjoying amazing Italian food at Bibi & Romeo's
St. John Lateran proclaims itself "Mother and Head of the Church" ... ouch!
St. John Lateran, which is actually the Cathedral of Rome (you would think it was St. Peter's, but St. Peter's is a basilica, not the cathedral)
Vertical panorama showing the amazing floor & ceiling of St. John Lateran, Rome
Cloister, St. John Lateran
Our banner of division, hung up at the cloister where we met, St. John Lateran
Repenting together in the cloister at St. John Lateran, led by Fr. Peter who gave a talk about the missed opportunities for reform that are represented by this particular location
Prayer & repentance, cloister, St. John Lateran
Werner, Fr. Peter, Hans Scholz, George Miley, Franziskus - St. John Lateran
Messianic Jews in the middle, then Catholics, then Protestants, with free church on the outside, to represent the history of the church
Henning's list of official 500th anniversary meetings scheduled for 2016, which became a prayer card so that we could all be praying for these events
Meeting Program with Links to Teachings
4th Wittenberg 2017
Preparatory Meeting
Rome,
Italy, 22-28 October 2015
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Thursday, 22
October |
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17:00 |
Hans-Peter Lang, Thomas Cogdell |
Welcome, Worship & Beginning Prayer, Arricia Welcome/Blessing, Wittenberg 2017 Principles |
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18:30 |
Dinner |
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19:30 |
Hans-Peter Lang, Thomas Cogdell |
Summary of Previous Meetings, Purpose of Rome Meeting, Introductions |
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21:00 |
Open time |
Fellowship, rest etc. |
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Friday, 23 October |
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07:30 |
Breakfast |
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08:30 |
Worship |
Phillip Owens & team |
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09:00 |
Amy & Thomas Cogdell |
The Holy Trinity & The Wolf |
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10:00 |
Break |
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10:30 |
Response |
Small Groups |
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11:50 |
Break |
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12:00 |
Bridge Prayer |
Team #1 |
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12:30 |
Lunch |
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14:30 |
Franziskus Eisenbach |
Rome & Jerusalem – an Introduction |
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15:00 |
Marie-Louise Weissenböck |
Benjamin Berger’s Letter about Jerusalem |
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15:15 |
Response |
Question & Answer |
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15:30 |
Break |
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16:00 |
Sr. Joela |
The Living Stone / We Are All Romans |
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17:00 |
Response |
Small Groups |
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18:30 |
Dinner |
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19:30 |
Bridge Prayer |
Team #2 |
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20:00 |
Thomas Cogdell |
Prayer with the 2 Banners |
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21:00 |
Open Time |
Fellowship etc. |
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Saturday, 24 October |
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07:30 |
Breakfast |
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08:30 |
Worship |
Phillip Owens & team |
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09:15 |
Franziskus Eisenbach |
Indulgences – A Pearl Offered to the Church |
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10:00 |
Break |
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10:15 |
Verena Lang |
Indulgences – 1517 Beginning of Reformation |
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11:30 |
Group |
Response of Discussion and Prayer |
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12:00 |
Bridge Prayer |
Team #3 |
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12:30 |
Lunch |
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14:30 |
Henning Dobers |
Fathers & Sons |
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15:15 |
Break |
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15:45 |
George Miley |
Response to Henning Dobers |
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16:45 |
Small Groups |
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18:30 |
Dinner |
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19:30 |
Ludwig & Cecily Benecke |
Generational Blessings |
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21:00 |
Open Time |
Fellowship etc. |
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Sunday, 25 October |
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08:00 |
Breakfast |
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09:00 |
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Departure by bus into the city of Rome |
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10:00 |
Tour |
Tour of Catacomb of Callixtus |
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11:00 |
Team of Leaders |
Service at the chapel of the Catacomb of Callixtus (Listen
to Jill Baggerman-Margheim’s report of her
experience at the service, in English) |
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13:00 |
Free time in Rome |
(Or optional return
by bus back to Ariccia) |
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17:00 |
Return |
Return by bus back to Ariccia |
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18:30 |
Dinner |
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19:30 |
Bridge Prayer |
Team #4 |
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20:00 |
Open time |
Fellowship, rest, etc. |
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Monday, 26 October |
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07:00 |
Breakfast |
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08:00 |
Pilgrimage |
Departure by bus into the city of Rome |
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09:00 |
St. Peter’s Basilica |
Repentance, led by Franziskus Eisenbach |
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12:00 |
Travel by bus to St. John Lateran |
Lunch at St. John Lateran cloister |
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13:00 |
Fr. Peter Hocken |
History of St. John Lateran & the Lateran
Councils |
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Repentance led by Fr. Peter Hocken |
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14:00 |
Travel by Bus |
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14:30 |
Arch of Titus |
Proclamation led by Sr. Joela |
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15:30 |
Forum Romanum / Colisseum |
Free time |
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17:00 |
Return |
Return by bus back to Ariccia |
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18:30 |
Dinner |
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19:30 |
Bridge Prayer |
Team #5 (including prayer of Dr. Seidel) |
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20:00 |
Michael & Philippa Salm |
Report from German Nobility |
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21:00 |
Open time |
Fellowship, rest, etc. |
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Tuesday, 27 October |
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07:30 |
Breakfast |
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08:30 |
Worship |
Phillip Owens & Team |
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09:15 |
Fr. Peter Hocken |
Past Sins & Present Signs of Hope |
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10:00 |
Break |
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10:30 |
Thomas & Amy Cogdell |
Discussion of plans for meetings in Wittenberg in 2016
& 2017 |
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Jill Margheim |
Discussion of plans for the 500 Days |
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11:00 |
Small Groups |
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12:00 |
Bridge Prayer |
Team #6 |
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12:30 |
Lunch |
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14:30 |
Thomas Cogdell |
Reports from Small Groups |
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15:30 |
Break |
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15:50 |
Henning Dobers |
Crossing the Jordan |
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18:30 |
Dinner |
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19:45 |
Bridge Prayer |
Team #7 |
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20:15 |
Wrap-up Meeting |
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Wednesday 28 October |
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08:00 |
Breakfast |
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09:00 |
Worship |
Phillip Owens & Team |
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09:45 |
Participants |
Benediction, blessing each other |
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10:30 |
Dispersing |
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