gt&bi

British Army Churches

Living, currently, within the British military community in Gütersloh, I am well blessed with Christian fellowship and resources.

Within Gütersloh Garrison there are Protestant, Anglican and RC Army Chaplains/Padres, each with their own Church within the Army bases.

I attend St Barbara's on Mensargh Barracks where the Army Padre, Phil Patterson, is a Presbyterian minister from Northern Ireland. There are services every Sunday at 11.00.

As well as the Padres, there is also a Salvation Army presence in the form of tearooms and newsagents which they run as well as a Sunday evening service and a mid-week fellowship evening.

Also based in Gütersloh, but with a much wider remit is Derek Yarwood, a SASRA Scripture Reader. SASRA ( the Soldier's & Airmen's Scripture Readers Association) is a missionary organisation with a long history that sends Scripture Readers into Army Garrisons to witness to the soldiers in their barrack rooms. He is based in the Chaplains Department at Gütersloh. He also runs a Bible study every Monday evening.

German, English speaking, Churches

In Bielefeld, there is a International Baptist Church. This Church is a member of the European Baptist Convention,

It meets every Sunday at 14.00 in Johanneskirche, Iimenauweg 1 (on the corner of Elbealle), Sennestadt, just South of Bielefled( see map). The pastor is Andy Earl.

There is also a fellowship and Bible study meeting every Thursday evening at 20.00.

German Churches

Marienkirche, Bielefeld.

If you need further help, let me know.

Deitrich Bonhoeffer

As any of you who know me well will know, in recent years I've been particularly fascinated by the writings of German Theologian Deitrich Bonhoeffer.

I've added a few links here to reflect this interest. I'd recommend any of his books, but The Cost of Discipleship is my favourite.

Deitrich Bnhoeffer

in English

brief biography

Deitrich Bohnoeffer

auf Deutsch

Wer war Dietrich Bonhoeffer?

more about the war years

Although Germany was united in its wartime efforts, it would be wrong to think that the Nazi regime excesses went without criticism and this was particularly so in this area of Nordrhein-Westphalia. In Bielefeld Dr Friedrich von Bodelschwingh, a highly respected Lutheran minister, refused to deliver his charges from the Bethel Institute - a home for the mentally handicapped - to the Gestapo who were organising a euthanasia program. His defiance generated local support and the Gestapo felt unable to act. Tragically the Bethel Institute was bombed by the RAF on 18 September 1940, killing 12 of the inmates. Count Clemens von Galen, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Munster, had long resisted the grosser aspects of the Nazi regime and, in May 1941, he initiated his campaign against the euthanasia programme. In a series of printed sermons, read in churches of many denominations, Galen started to call the regime to account for its atrocities. The sermons were pushed through letterboxes in leaflet form and broadcast back to Germany by allied radio stations. Hitler felt Galen was too powerful a figure and was best left alone rather than made more powerful through martyrdom. Largely by Galen's efforts the euthanasia programme was ended. An extract from "Flugplatz Gütersloh, a short History" by Gerry Lewis, 1987.

The Russian War Cemetry at Stuckenbrock

some scenes from the cemetry.

In nearby Stuckenbrock there is a Russian war cemetery where approximately 65,000 victims of Nazi slave labour are buried, mostly in unmarked mass graves.

This page was last updated on 10/04/02 .

My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

Psalm75v26