On Sunday 21st June 2026, the monthly English-language Anglican service of Evening Prayer celebrated the twentieth anniversary of Anglican services at the Frauenkirche. The first such service was held on Sunday 18th June 2006, some eight months after the consecration of the re-built Frauenkirche on 30th October 2005.
From its inception, until the end of 2015, the service was overseen by the late Rev’d Dr Irene Ahrens, Assistant Priest of St George’s Church, Berlin. I took over responsibility at the beginning of January 2016.
As I have previously explained, the evening services at the Frauenkirche, both the German and English ones, follow a theme over several Sundays. The theme since Pentecost, through to Sunday 19th July, is the hymns of Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676), marking the 350th anniversary of his death. Several of Gerhardt’s hymns have been translated into English and the hymn I had earlier chosen for this service was, ‘O sacred head, surrounded by crown of piercing thorn!’, known in German by the opening line, ‘O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden’.
The text of the hymn is clearly based on the description of Christ’s passion and being mocked and put to scorn by Roman soldiers, as described in Matthew 27. 27-31 which was our first Bible reading. And the placing on his head of a crown of thorns which is also found in the narrative of chapter nineteen of John’s Gospel.
As I said in my sermon, it may seem strange to be focusing on the Cross of Christ at this time of the Church’s year, a few Sundays after celebrating the Feast of Pentecost. But although the hymn does appear in the Good Friday section of our hymnal, the cross is central to the Christian faith and is a powerful Christian symbol.
In many ways, having the cross as probably the most important Christian symbol, is rather strange. It reminds us of the cruel death of Jesus, the founder of our faith. It is something St Paul addresses in 1 Corinthians 1. 18-25, which was our second Bible reading. He writes, ‘For the message about the cross is foolishness – even stupidity, to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God’.
As Paul goes on to say, ‘We proclaim Christ crucified’ – the redemption won for us through his death on the cross. As Gerhardt puts it in verse two of his hymn, ‘O agony and dying! O love for sinners free!’ Through the death of Jesus on the cross, God shows his love for fallen humanity and offers salvation, redemption, to those who believe.
But having reflected upon our two Biblical readings, I then spoke about the reasons why back in 2006, the Church of England in Germany was offered this monthly English-language Anglican service by the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD), and more specifically by the Frauenkirche. There are two reasons.
One is the ecumenical Meissen agreement between the Church of England and the EKD which recognises each others ministry and ministers and allows me, an ordained Anglican priest, to lead worship and preach in the Frauenkirche, an EKD Church. But the second and very significant reason is the strong links that have been established between the Frauenkirche and Coventry Cathedral through their shared experience of wartime destruction and their shared commitment to work for peace and reconciliation.
As I have written and explained previously, on the night of 14th November 1940, the Nazi Luftwaffe carried out a major bombing raid on the city of Coventry which resulted in the death of 568 people – a far lower number than in Dresden four and a half years later, but the highest casualty figure for one night’s bombing of any English city. And the destruction of Coventry’s mediaeval Cathedral with its wooden roof and interior being set on fire and destroyed. Amazingly, the tall spire survived, along with most of the outside walls.
The Provost of the Cathedral, (who would now be called the Dean), was a man called Richard Howard. At Christmas 1940, only six weeks after the bombing, Provost Howard spoke on BBC national radio, not of retribution, but instead, that once the war was over, his vision was to work with those who had been enemies, ‘to build a kinder, more Christ-Child-like world’.
Speaking very personally as I did that Sunday evening, I believe my being able to stand in the pulpit of the Frauenkirche, lead worship and preach, as I have done for the past ten and a half years, is a fulfilment of Provost Howard’s vision. As some of you reading this blog know, as do some in the Frauenkirche congregation, it is particularly significant to me for I was born in the city of Coventry, it is where I lived and was educated up to the age of eighteen and I am a life-long supporter of Coventry City FC. I am a proud Coventrian.
All of this was completely unknown to those who approached me in the Summer of 2015 and asked if I would be willing to take on responsibility this monthly service, from the late Irene Ahrens. Many people have since remarked that it was a wonderful coincidence. I prefer to call it a ‘God-incidence’!
Provost Howard also did three significant physical things. He made a cross out of two of the charred roof beams of the Cathedral and erected it behind the altar of the ruined building, now open to the skies. And on the inside of the east wall, behind the altar, he had the words, ‘Father forgive’, carved in the stonework. Both are still there and can be seen today.
His third physical act was, out of three mediaeval metal roof nails, he made a simple cross, of which the one on the Frauenkirche altar immediately behind where I preach, is a replica. The original sits above the high altar of the new Coventry Cathedral. And this cross is now the symbol of what is known as the Community of the Cross of Nails, linking Churches together, committed to working for reconciliation between those formerly in conflict.
The Cross of Nails/Nagelkreuz on the Frauenkirche altar, was presented to the Frauenkirche in February 2005, some eight months before the rebuilt Frauenkirche was consecrated. In February 2025, John Witcombe, the Dean of Coventry Cathedral visited Dresden to mark the twentieth anniversary, as well speaking at Nacht der Stimmen/Night of voices, marking the eightieth anniversary of the bombing of Dresden and the destruction of the Frauenkirche.
Engraved on the plaque at the base of the Cross of Nails is both the date of presentation but also those important words, ‘Father forgive’.
So I concluded my sermon by giving thanks for those who had the vision for this regular English-language Anglican service to happen each month. And I gave thanks for the leadership of the Frauenkirche who have given me great freedom in leading worship and preaching.
I was very pleased that Maria Noth, the Geschäftsführerin/CEO of the Stiftung, the charitable foundation that run the Frauenkirche, was present with me on the dais for the service. She has been very supportive of my English-language ministry. She read the second Bible reading but also asked if she could have a speaking slot. I will end this post with one paragraph of her speech.
‘Every Anglican service celebrated in this church bears witness to a simple but demanding truth: that community can grow where history once produced division, and trust where suspicion may seem inevitable. They remind us that reconciliation is not first and foremost our achievement, but a gift; and a responsibility. We live by the grace of the One who reconciles the world to himself and calls us to become servants of reconciliation.’
