Reformation to Germany

November 30, 2010

Westminster alumnus, Sebastian Heck, was recently ordained a pastor of a new Reformed church in Heidelberg, Germany.

Rev. Heck will be joining an organization called Reformation to Germany (R2G).  The vision of R2G is "to see the establishment of a confessional Reformed church in Germany, a church that clearly understands the Gospel and faithfully confesses it, whatever the cost."

Rev. Dr. Carl Trueman, professor of church history and historical theology, shared about the time with Rev. Heck:

"Last week I had the privilege of taking part in the ordination of former WTS student, Sebastian Heck, as pastor of a new Reformed church in Heidelberg.  Technically, Sebastian is now ordained as the associate pastor of Grace PCA in Douglasville, GA, labouring out of bounds in Germany; but the hope is that the Heidelberg church will become the flagship for an indigenous German denomination, the Selbständige Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche (SERK). 

"The service of ordination was preceded by a three-day conference on confessional churchmanship, which included lectures by myself on confessionalism, Derek Thomas on worship, Jon Payne on the priorities of the pastorate, and Sebastian Heck on church planting in Germany.  The conference culminated in a worship service at the Church of the Holy Ghost in Heidelberg, where Sebastian preached a rousing sermon on justification.   In addition, the conference was the occasion for the release of a new German translation of the Three Forms of Unity, which are to be the confessional standards of SERK.  The whole week was a most joyous occasion and it was an immense privilege to be invited to take part in both the conference and the ordination."

Anyone wishing to know more about the church situation in German and SERK should go the following websites: http://r2g.gutensite.com/; http://serk.gutensite.com/

Participants in the ordination service of laying on of hands (l to r): The Rev. Jon D. Payne (PCA), Mr. Joe Fowler (PCA), the Rev. Dr. Bill Schweitzer (Evangelical Presbyterian Church of England and Wales), the Rev. Sebastian Heck, Mr. Michael Ostermann (PCA), the Rev. Dr. Derek W. Thomas (PCA), the Rev. Dr. Carl R. Trueman, the Rev. Dr. Bernhard Kaiser (Institute for Reformational Theology).