Scholar to Speak on the Life and Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Covenant Village of Golden Valley, a faith-based, not-for-profit continuing care retirement community administered by Covenant Retirement Communities, will host Rev. John Matthews, past president of the International Bonhoeffer Society English Language Section, who will present “The Life and Legacy of Dietrich Bonhoeffer” on Thursday, Aug. 14.

The program will begin at 1 p.m. Bonhoeffer was a central figure in the Protestant church struggle against the Nazis. Rev. Matthews will explain how Bonhoeffer’s faith cost him his life and why he is considered one of the most famous theologians and martyrs of the 20th century. Imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp for 18 months, Bonhoeffer was tried and executed just two weeks before the Allied forces liberated the camp.

Senior pastor of Grace Lutheran Church, Apple Valley, Minn., Rev. Matthews is a Bonhoeffer scholar. In addition to serving as president of the International Bonhoeffer Society English Language Section, he is the author of two books on Bonhoeffer. He published “Anxious Souls Will Ask ... the Christ-Centered Spirituality of Dietrich Bonhoeffer” in 2005. In 2011, at the request of Lutheran University Press, he published his second book, “Bonhoeffer: A Brief Overview of the Life and Writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer,” as part of their “Theology for Life” series.

Covenant Village of Golden Valley is located at 5800 St. Croix Ave. N., Golden Valley, Minn. The lecture is free. To register, please visit www.CovenantVillageofGoldenValley.org or call (877) 804-7017.