Living as a Lutheran in East Germany

150 Years of Grace and Fellowship with the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church (ELFK) of Germany – Part Two

Presenter: Rev. Jonas Schröter

Description: In the second part of our anniversary series, we will explore what life was like as a Christian living in communist East Germany. After World War II, Germany was divided into the parliamentary republic of West Germany (known as the BRD) and communist East Germany (known as the DDR). Pastor Schröter will help us better understand what living as a Lutheran was like under communism in the DDR and explain how life changed following the reunification of Germany in 1990.

About the Presenter: Jonas Schröter grew up in a Lutheran family in Grimma, East Germany. He studied at the ELFK Lutheran Theological Seminary in Leipzig and at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary in Mequon, Wis. His ministry experience is diverse, having served as a vicar in Zwickau-Planitz and with the WELS mission in Sofia, Bulgaria. After serving a parish in Chemnitz, Germany, for several years, he now leads the ELFK’s diaspora ministry in Southern Germany, based in Wangen im Allgäu. He and his wife have two children.