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Photo essay: Our Stake in Spain

Plaza Mayor in the center of Valladolid, Spain, is where a group of Lutherans were burned at the stake as heretics in 1558.

Story by Deaconess Pamela J. Nielsen, photos by Erik M. Lunsford

Lutherans once again proclaiming their faith

Just 42 years after Martin Luther ignited the Reformation with the blow of his hammer, dozens of Lutherans were martyred by burning at the stake in the Plaza Mayor at Valladolid, in Seville and other cities in Spain. They died confessing the pure Gospel of Christ as the only Savior from sin, death and the devil. These faithful souls were victims of the Spanish Inquisition, which succeeded in snuffing out all traces of Luther’s “heretical” teachings in Spain.

Missionary Rev. David Warner prepares the Sacrament for the Saturday afternoon Divine Service at a rented church building in Madrid.

Today, as the world marks the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation, 77 Lutherans shepherded by two missionaries, a pastor and vicar are once again boldly confessing the Gospel in Spain. They do so in the long shadows cast by the ever-present Roman Catholic state church — with its enormous gilded cathedrals featuring high altars and statues of saints, where prayers to and for the dead are regularly spoken and Mary, not Jesus, is the center of faith. Weakened in power by a culture that is increasingly secular, these grand sanctuaries are more likely to be filled with tourists armed with cameras and selfie sticks.

Through God’s gracious blessing of the gifts and support given by LCMS members, two LCMS missionary pastors — Rev. David Warner and Rev. Adam Lehman — serve in Spain, building on work begun over a decade ago in a partnership between the Synod and Argentinian Lutherans.

They are strategically staking a claim for the Gospel in three key cities — Madrid, Seville and Cartagena — even as they regularly bring Christ’s Word and Sacraments to the faithful who are scattered across the country.

In each of these cities is a core group of faithful Lutherans who gather for worship in rented facilities. These locations serve as the main stake from which the faithful Spanish Lutherans will reach out with Christ and His saving Word in this historic and beautiful land.

See more of this story at: engage.lcms.org/mission-work-in-spain-winter-2017.

While eating at a small café in Madrid, Missionary Rev. David Warner, left, and Missionary Rev. Adam Lehman discuss plans for their work.

A horse pauses from pulling tourists around a plaza in Seville built for the Spanish-American World’s Fair of 1929.

This is the view from the bell tower of The Seville Cathedral. Built atop the ruins of an ancient mosque, the cathedral is the third-largest church and the largest Gothic building in Europe.

This tower is on the picturesque Plaza de España in the historic section of Seville.

A flamenco dancer performs for tourists on a street in Seville.

The Rev. Adam Lehman is embraced following worship in Madrid.

A gilded side altar is just one element of the Cathedral Santa Maria, an enormous structure that is a major tourist attraction.

Deaconess Pamela J. Nielsen (pamela.nielsen@lcms.org) is associate executive director of LCMS Communications.

Erik M. Lunsford (erik.lunsford@lcms.org) is managing photojournalist for LCMS Communications.

Posted February 1, 2017

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Paula Schlueter Ross

Paula Schlueter Ross (1953–2019), former managing editor of Reporter, was a magna cum laude graduate of Webster University, with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. During her nearly 35-year career with the LCMS, she wrote for both Reporter and The Lutheran Witness and often took photos to accompany her stories. Ross won 17 national writing awards from the Associated Church Press, including seven first-place “Awards of Excellence.”