“Life Together as Resistance”

Second Tuesdays of the Month via Zoom

1:00pm – 2:30pm (Pacific Time)

FACILITATORS:

Dr. Mark Brocker and Dr. Roger Newell

REGISTRATION & ZOOM LINK:

Email Dr. Brocker ([email protected]) or Dr. Newell ([email protected])

FORMAT:

Presentation (1:00 – 1:30) and Discussion (1:30 – 2:30)

PREPARATION for each session:

Read assigned texts and respond to questions, in 25 words or less

TEXTS:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible, volume 5 of Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996). (LT)

[EACH PARTICIPANT MUST HAVE A COPY OF THIS EDITION.]

Other texts as distributed. (TBD)

DESCRIPTION:

Two days after Hitler came to power in Germany on January 30, 1933, Bonhoeffer was on the radio warning the German people of the dangers of making an idol out of the political leader. For the rest of Bonhoeffer’s life, until he was executed by the Nazis on April 9, 1945, for his role in a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler, he struggled to find ways to resist the Nazi regime. In 1935 Bonhoeffer faced a decision of whether: (1) to continue as pastor of two German-speaking congregations in London; or (2) to travel to India to study non-violent resistance under Gandhi; or (3) to accept an invitation to direct one of the Confessing Church’s illegal seminaries. Bonhoeffer accepted the invitation to direct the Finkenwalde Seminary. In 1939 he published Life Together, an account of the community life that he and his seminarians shared in which they sought to make clear that their ultimate loyalty was to Jesus, not to a political leader. Their life together was an act of resistance. In what ways is our life together in communities of faith an act of resistance in our context?

SCHEDULE:

CLICK HERE to see the schedule.

September 9, 2025	Life Together as Resistance	Introduction
October 7, 2025	Chapter 1: Community	DBWE 5: LT pp. 27-47
November 11, 2025	Chapter 2: The Day Together	DBWE 5: LT pp. 48-80
December 9, 2025	Chapter 3: The Day Alone	DBWE 5: LT pp. 81-92
January 13, 2026	Chapter 4: Service	DBWE 5: LT pp. 93-107
February 10, 2026	Chapter 5: Confession and the Lord‘s Supper	DBWE 5: LT pp. 108-118
March 10, 2026	The Collective Pastorates	DBWE 15, TBD
April 7, 2026	Faith under Fire: Bonhoeffer’s Pastoral Counsel to His Seminarians on the Front Lines	DBWE 16, TBD
May 12, 2026	The Church for Others	DBWE 8: TBD
June 9, 2026	Keine Gewalt! No Violence!	TBD by Dr. Roger Newell

To register and receive the zoom link (and more information), email Pastor Mark Brocker, Ph.D. EMAIL: [email protected].