Intercessory Prayer Services

Martin Niemöller brought Gollwitzer to Berlin as a theological staff member of the Council of Brethren of the Evangelical Church of the Old Prussian Union in the spring of 1937. After Niemöller’s arrest, Gollwitzer substituted for him at St. Anne’s Church in Berlin-Dahlem as of July 1, 1937 and taught at the Confessing Church’s illegal church college.

On July 4, 1937, three days after Niemöller’s arrest, Gollwitzer held a vesper service and preached on Phil 1:12 ff. From then on, the Dahlem Confessing Church congregation gathered for such intercessory prayer services every workday evening for eight years, which always attracted a large crowd.

Bible texts imparted orientation and standards to the congregation. The congregation understood the references to issues and events of the day even without explicit mention in the sermons. The sermons were frequently transcribed and copied for distribution. Some allusions were toned down from their oral form.

The preacher Gollwitzer encouraged his congregation to persist in daily intercessory prayer services. A special Confessing Church congregation in Dahlem took shape through the daily intercessory prayer services.