Approximately eighty to ninety Texans mainly from Houston gathered in Leipzig, Germany for the Twentieth Anniversary celebration of the “Peaceful” Revolution. Events were planned on and around October 9, the day of the non-violent and unhindered demonstration by the citizens of Leipzig for reform of the communist dictatorship of East Germany in 1989. Up to 70,000 people went to the streets after gathering on the important squares of the city or in the churches for prayer on the regular Monday Prayers for Peace.

From October 6 - 11 the city of Leipzig commemorated the events of October 9 leading up to the fall of the Berlin wall on November 9. Many members of Christ the King Church were among the guests. The celebration began with the “christening” of Leipzig’s newest and longest streetcar named after her sister city, Houston. Houston City Council member Anne Clutterbuck and Pastor Robert Moore, president of the Houston-Leipzig Sister City Association, shared in the honors of christening the new streetcar with Dr. Pepper brought in specially for the occasion.

Council member Clutterbuck also attended and spoke at the Mayors’ Conference sponsored by Leipzig Mayor Burkhardt Jung.

Rotary International organized a “Peace Conference” for the weekend with several speakers including Hans-Dietrich Gentscher, former Foreign Minister at the time of the 1989 Revolution. Rotarians from Districts 1880 (Leipzig, Dresden, Nuremberg) and 5890 (Houston Area) made up most of the participants. Houston area Rotarians were also involved in underwriting the gift of a “Peace” Window” to the citizens of Leipzig. The $120,000 project was the idea of Christ the King Church members Phil and Ute Cezeaux, who led the project to successful completion with the dedication of the window in St. Thomas Church on October 11.

St. Thomas Church took responsibility for the design of the window. After a competition with entries from Houston and from Germany, the official jury chose the design by David Schnell who lives and works in Leipzig and is a part of the “Leipzig School” which is prominent in the international art scene.

The window was dedicated in a festive worship service built around the theme of peace with the “Peace Cantata” composed by Professor Ann Gebuhr of Houston Baptist University and member of Christ the King Church. The work was commissioned for the occasion by the Houston-Leipzig Sister City Association. Melissa Givens, popular soprano with the Bach Society, sang the solo arias and recitatives with local choir amici musicae and the Leipzig Youth Orchestra.

Pastor Christian Wolff and Pastor Moore preached a dialogue sermon on theme of peace and based on the reading from St. Matthew’s gospel concerning the greatest commandment. The dialogue sermon allowed for both German and English to be used for the international gathering of worshipers.

Christ the King Church is an important hub for the Houston-Leipzig Sister City Association. Members Wolfgang and Angelika Schmidt were instrumental in the establishment of the official relationship in 1993.