Centennial Celebration
of the Birth of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

February 4, 1906—April 9, 1945

A course, film, worship service, lecture, and residential retreat celebrating the life, writings, and ministry of this remarkable twentieth-centure figure.

Click on event headings at right for fuller description.

Click here for PDF version of poster.

Following Christ in a Time of Terror

Wednesdays, January 18—February 15
at 7 pm

A course with Wayne Whitson Floyd, Geoffrey Kelly, Lori Brandt Hale, Martin Doblmeier, and Josiah Young

Bonhoeffer: Award-winning film
by Martin Doblmeier

Wednesday, February 1 at 7 pm

Feature-length showing plus live discussion with the filmmaker in the nave of Washington National Cathedral. Sponsored by the Cathedral College and Sojourners Ministries. PBS will broadcast the film on February 6 at 10 pm EST.

Bonhoeffer Centenary Choral Evensong

Sunday, February 5 at 4 pm

Readings, prayers and music. The Rev. Robin J. Steinke, dean of Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettsyburg, guest preacher.

Confessing Christ:
The Preaching Witness
of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Tuesday, February 7 at 7:30 pm

A lecture by Victoria Barnett

Bonhoeffer’s Spirituality and Sermons

Tuesday, February 7–Friday, February 10

A Retreat with Victoria Barnett

Centennial Celebration
of the Birth of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Click on register buttons by event details below for online registration

When his nation faced its greatest time of trial, one man—a German pastor and theologian—threw himself into the arms of Christ and was martyred by the Nazi regime. Today Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s prophetic voice for authentic discipleship resounds widely. At the centennial of his birth, we invite you to honor the legacy of this man by exploring the spiritual foundations of a theologian who chose resistance rather than compliance and faithful action rather than pious withdrawal

Following Christ in a Time of Terror
Wayne W. Floyd,
with Martin Doblmeier, Lori Brandt Hale,
Geoffrey Kelly and Josiah Young

Wednesdays, January 18, 25, February 1, 8, 15
7 to 9 pm Course

Registration for “Following Christ in a Time of Terror” is now closed. Thank you for your interest in this program.

Facing the gallows at Flossenbürg Concentration Camp, Dietrich Bonhoeffer told fellow prisoner Payne Best, “For me this is the end—but also, the beginning of life.” The camp doctor, last to see Bonhoeffer alive, later wrote: “I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.”

And yet Bonhoeffer appears to be anything but submissive in choosing to join actively in the German Military Intelligence conspiracy to assassinate Hitler. The seeming contradiction between following Christ and leading others to resist during a time of terror is the focus of this course, led by Dr. Wayne Whitson Floyd.

Through conversations with several well-known current interpreters of Bonhoeffer, the course will explore the spiritual foundations of this active way of discipleship. Come and discover how a theology of God’s solidarity with human beings through the Incarnation shaped Bonhoeffer’s view of the Christian calling to embody the costliness of grace, the radicality of love that can risk everything for the sake of another.

Then explore the community Bonhoeffer encouraged the church to become, one that provides spiritual grounding as we listen for and respond to God’s call in our own age.

WAYNE WHITSON FLOYD is director of the Cathedral College Center for Christian Formation and general editor of the complete English edition of Bonhoeffer’s writings, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works.
MARTIN DOBLMEIER is president and founder of Journey Films.
LORI BRANDT HALE is assistant professor of religion at Augsburg College.
GEOFFREY KELLY is professor of religious studies at LaSalle University.
JOSIAH YOUNG is professor of systematic theology at Wesley Theological Seminary.

For information please call (202) 537-2221 or e-mail programs@cathedral.org.

Bonhoeffer: A Film by Journey Films
With Martin Doblmeier

Wednesday, February 1
7 pm Film and Discussion
Perry Auditorium, 7th Floor

Come see this critically acclaimed documentary film on the life and theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and stay for a discussion with filmmaker Martin Doblmeier. Shot on location, Bonhoeffer features revealing archival footage, personal photographs, and interviews with the theologian’s family, friends and colleagues.

Examine the dramatic story of Bonhoeffer’s moral courage told in an intimate visual presentation at a rare film showing in the Cathedral nave. Co-sponsored by the Cathedral College and Sojourners Ministries.

Please note: This showing is included in the registration cost of the Following Christ in a Time of Terror course with Wayne Floyd.

For information please call (202) 537-2221 or e-mail programs@cathedral.org.

Bonhoeffer Centenary Choral Evensong

Sunday, February 5 at 4 pm
Great Choir

All are welcome to attend this service of readings, prayers and music in the Great Choir. The Rev. Robin J. Steinke, dean of Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettsyburg, PA, guest preacher; the Rev. Canon Michael Wyatt, officiant; Choir of Men and Girls.

For information please call (202) 537-2221 or e-mail programs@cathedral.org.

A brilliant theologian, Bonhoeffer was a prolific writer on matters of faith. But the depth of his humanity is most truly displayed in his sermons. These newly translated historical documents reveal a man who, in the midst of turbulent times, grew in his own sense of vocation and purpose as he preached to students, parishioners and allies in the Confessing Church.

Bonhoeffer strongly believed that Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was a central text in Christian faith, one that outlined simply what Christians are called to do. When confronted with Nazi evils and betrayal within his own church, Bonhoeffer struggled to understand the will of God.

Come share an evening with Dr. Victoria Barnett, a respected scholar in Holocaust studies, as we explore the timeless questions of faith that Bonhoeffer’s sermons disclose. Discover the fears that haunted him and the faith that nourished him. And, from his example, learn how to remain true to your faith in circumstances that require persistence, strength and creativity.

VICTORIA BARNETT is director of church relations at the U. S. Holocaust Memorial. She is the author of Bystanders: Conscience and Complicity during the Holocaust and For the Soul of the People: Protestant Protest under Hitler.

For information please call (202) 537-2221 or e-mail programs@cathedral.org.

RELATED LINKS

• Cathedral Winter–Spring Programs Page
• Cathedral Home Page
• Cathedral College Home Page