bel·fry /ˈbelfrē/
Noun: the part of a bell tower in which bells are housed.
In January, I inaugurated The Belfry, a book club offered to the ministerial staff of First Baptist Sulphur Springs. For the historical record, the inaugural participants were as follows:
Jeff Gravens (convener of the group and moderator of the discussions)
Seth Hunt (the provider of donuts)
Jody Pair
Carlos Amaya
Daniel Archer
Adam Peckham
Ian Wells
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together was an easy pick for the first selection. It has shaped my understanding of Christian community like no other book. I’ve read it perhaps a dozen times. It has been a blessing each time. It was an even bigger blessing to share it with others. All other members were reading it for the first time.
My favorite passage from the book comes in the form of a warning to pastors:
Pastors should not complain about their congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God. Congregations have not been entrusted to them in order that they should become accusers of their congregations before God and their fellow human beings. When pastors lose faith in a Christian community in which they have been placed and begin to make accusations against it, they had better examine themselves first to see whether the underlying problem is not their own idealized image, which should be shattered by God.
May I heed that warning well.
To celebrate The Belfry’s final meeting over Life Together, we gathered in the belfry.
The current sanctuary of First Baptist Sulphur Springs was completed in 1954. The Sulphur Springs Daily News-Telegram described the bell tower in detail upon construction:
Measuring 139 feet in length and 76 feet in width, the new building faces west on Oak street. A Gothic tower 80 feet in height is on the corner of Oak and College streets. Its top is marked by a powerful light which should be visible for several miles. Carrying out the Gothic architecture style a second tower 55 feet tall is on the west corner of the building. The exterior is built of brick, trimmed in cut limestone.
The Belfry participants loaded backpacks with books, notes, coffee, donuts and scaled the 80 feet on 72 year-old ladders.
Deep community is forged through open and honest conversation … and a bit of adversity. The climb to the top of the tower was all the adversity we needed. It was a fitting conclusion to our meditation on the words and ministry of Bonhoeffer.
While the appointment of Hitler was widely welcomed by the German population, including significant parts of the church, Bonhoeffer was a firm opponent. Two days after Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in January 1933, Bonhoeffer delivered a radio address criticizing the concept of “The Fuhrer.” His radio broadcast was cut off mid-air.
Bonhoeffer became a leader in what was known as the Confessing Church which spoke out against Hitler, the Nazi regime, oppression, and fought for adherence to Jesus and his teachings. He founded an underground seminary of the Confessing Church in Finkenwalde in 1935. The spiritual practices of the seminary are documented in Life Together. Bonhoeffer was eventually arrested for his participation in the assassination plot against Hitler. A well-documented pacifist, Bonhoeffer’s participation in this plot is cloudy at best.
On April 8th, 1945, Bonhoeffer was tried and hanged just two weeks before American forces freed his concentration camp.
The camp doctor who witnessed the execution of Bonhoeffer wrote,
“I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer … kneeling on the floor praying fervently to God. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer. At the place of execution, he again said a short prayer and then climbed the few steps to the gallows, brave and composed. His death ensued after a few seconds. In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.”
There are other reports that detail Bonhoeffer’s death as much more drawn out and gruesome.
If you’d like to read works of Bonhoeffer, I’d recommend the following list:
I’m not in love with any particular biography of Bonhoeffer (both the Metaxes and Marsh volumes have major flaws), but would recommend one written by a close friend and student:
Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography by Eberhard Bethge
I’ve recently read and enjoyed books related to Bonhoeffer, to include:
From Isolation to Community: A Renewed Vision for Christian Life Together by Myles Werntz
Faith in the Face of Tyranny by Torbjorn Johansson
Discipleship in a World Full of Nazis: Recovering the True Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Mark Thiessen Nation
Amazon Affiliate links (when available) are provided for books listed.
Jeff Gravens 