A Christian Martyr and Lessons in Raising Kingdom Leaders

In 1939, Europe stood on the brink of war. In June of that year, Dietrich Bonhoeffer visited the United States a second time. His first visit had been rich, especially his experience with the black churches in New York. But soon after arriving for a second visit, Bonhoeffer became convicted that he must return to Germany. His American friends tried to dissuade him. Clearly war was coming, and the Confessing Church in Germany was already facing persecution from the Nazis.  

Yet one longing overcame all desire for personal safety; his yearning to be with his former students and fellow Christian leaders who served the church under increasing threat. Bonhoeffer’s deep connection with those pastors began at Finkenwalde, the underground seminary formed by the Confessing Church. Bonhoeffer led the seminary from 1935 until the Gestapo shut it down in September 1937. At Finkenwalde, Bonhoeffer’s learning community functioned as a seminary like no other.

As the world descended into darkness Bonhoeffer realized the training of Christian leaders was paramount. Yet his method and emphasis at Finkenwalde did not conform to the models of the day. Bonhoeffer insisted the students must learn how to read the Bible well and possess a deep grasp of what they believed, but he also insisted they learn to pray. In Bonhoeffer’s estimation, the pursuit of knowledge and the art of Bible study bore little fruit unless bound to a life of prayer. Indeed, it was while caring for and training his fellow pastors that Bonhoeffer developed the outline for his book Psalms: Prayerbook of the Bible (1940).

While Scripture and prayer formed the central emphasis of the Finkenwalde seminary, Bonhoeffer also introduced a radical new element – an incarnational approach to forming and raising leaders. The seminarians lived together, worshiped together, studied together, ate together and worked together. Bonhoeffer believed this intense communal experience served as a crucible to form the pastors – many of whom would face arrest by the Gestapo. It was during his time nurturing and equipping the seminaries that Bonhoeffer wrote Life Together (1939). Few works more clearly articulate the power of incarnational encouragement and equipping of Christian leaders.

Bonhoeffer described this unique combination of Word, prayer and community life as “a sort of new monasticism.”[1] This incarnational approach - focused on Scripture and prayer - prepared Christian pastors to lead well during the horrors that were to come during World War II.

I’ve served as a Professor of Bible and Congregational Ministry for over twenty years. While my path has led me through and into the academic world we call Christian higher education, Bonhoeffer’s model holds a special allure. In a time of crisis Bonhoeffer envisioned a way of training leaders beyond the conventional approaches of his day. He simply desired to gather committed leaders, study with them, learn to pray alongside them, and share in their lives. His was a deeply pastoral approach, with an eye toward the practical strengthening of the local church. The trappings of the University and Seminary model that held sway in Europe and America hardly factored into his vision.

Bonhoeffer’s brief experiment was cut short by Nazi oppression, but the church would do well to consider the Finkenwald model for our day and age. In a recent article entitled “The Ending of Seminaries as We’ve Known Them”, James Emery White describes the challenges facing institutions that train pastors. White served as president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, one of the flagship Evangelical seminaries in America. In 2012 Gordon-Conwell boasted 1,230 full-time equivalent students. By 2021, enrollment dropped to 633. With shrinking enrollment and growing costs, Gordon-Conwell recently announced their decision to sell the campus in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. Other major seminaries including Fuller Theological Seminary and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School have also resorted to similar measures.[2]

In my own tradition, Cincinnati Christian Seminary and University closed while other Bible Colleges and Universities have tried to rebrand in an effort to survive. Yet the larger question is not whether institutions of Christian higher education remain in operation, but rather how the church will equip and raise up leaders. White, a former seminary president, now believes we “need to rethink seminary education itself.”[3]

I agree with White’s assessment which is why I’m collaborating with a number of leaders to reimagine ways to train servants for the local church. In 2020 we began a series of Learning Retreats and received very positive feedback from the ministers who participated. The Learning Retreats share many of the values that spurred Bonhoeffer’s work at Finkenwald: a commitment to Scripture and prayer combined with deep pastoral concern and an incarnational approach to shaping ministers.

These commitments produce a unique learning experience that is transformational rather than transactional. Participants not only study with their professors but also enter a monastic rhythm filled with prayer and time to reflect on the teaching. Shared meals and opportunities for rich conversation help create an environment of trust. The “retreat” elements stand at the center of this educational approach and pastoral concern permeates the experience.

The Learning Retreats are not a conventional educational experience, but we do not live in conventional times. Creative approaches characterized by a desire for Kingdom service rather than kingdom building drive this initiative. Perhaps God will use these efforts to strengthen Christian leaders that they might minister from the overflow of a life consumed with love for God and love for people. For more information on upcoming Learning Retreats visit the Events Registration Page

I encourage you to read White’s full article "The Ending of Seminaries As We've Known Them" . For a deeper dive, I recommend Paul House’s book Bonhoeffer’s Seminary Vision: A Case for Costly Discipleship and Life Together. For an introduction to the relevant themes in the book I suggest you watch this Interview with Dr. House.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed in a Nazi prison just days before Germany capitulated to Allied forces.

[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letter to Karl-Friedrich Bonhoeffer (January 14, 1935).

[2] James Emory White, “The Ending of Seminaries as We’ve Known Them.” Church and Culture, June 6, 2022

[3] James Emory White, “The Ending of Seminaries as We’ve Known Them.” Church and Culture, June 6, 2022