“We must plan this trip so far in advance because of the limited tickets of the Passion Play,” Lutz said. “We also know that if you are not a historian or Luther enthusiast, you will no doubt enjoy the magnificent scenery of the German countryside.”
The Passion Play of Oberammergau is a musical drama staged every 10 years from May to October and is the longest-running play in history. The setting is the small, picturesque village of Oberammergau, nestled in a valley amidst Germany’s Bavarian Alps. The play began in 1634 and the modern play takes place on an open-air stage with a covered auditorium seating 5,000 against a backdrop of towering Alpine mountains.
The tour is Immanuel’s fifth to the Passion Play and 16th group tour. Cost is $3,869 per person, based on double occupancy. It covers round-trip transatlantic flight, first-class or Superior Tourist hotel accommodations, most meals, an experienced English-speaking escort, deluxe motorcoach transportation, sightseeing at all major points of interest, entrance fees and first-class seating at the Passion Play.
An afternoon program explaining the trip - including photos of some of the sites - takes place May 18 at 3 p.m. at Immanuel, 47120 Romeo Plank Road, at 21 Mile Road in Macomb Township. Call 739-3568 or 286-4231.
The Rev. Harry C. Sherry is celebrating his 50th year anniversary in the ministry.
He preached at Calvary United Methodist Church yesterday on the theme “It’s About the Gospel” to mark the occasion.
“I love the church. The church is changing and some of the change is good,” he said. “The big generation — my generation — was strong in the church. We’re getting less and less. Can the following generation carry on?”
He is married to the former Naomi Lowmaster and has three sons, two daughters — one deceased, 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
His interest in the ministry is life-long.
“I was always involved in the church. In 1956, I felt the call to the ministry,” he said. “The call is a conviction that God wants you to come. I wrestled with that for three years. I was always queasy about sickness and death. I had a family of three to support. But I thought the Lord would provide. His grace is sufficient.”
Sherry said his mother told everyone he would be a minister.
“She died at age 47. That helped me somewhat in dealing with the sickness and death,” he said. “Then we had a 9-day-old daughter who died. The people in the community were outpouring in their love.”
Sherry played football and was in the band at Punxsutawney High School, graduating in 1947.
“I give credit for my music appreciation and singing to Esther Jane Davis, my choir director,” he said. “I like to sing. Music is my strong suit. I’ve been singing 50 years in the men’s chorus.”
Sherry worked in coal stripping as a bulldozer operator. He served in the U.S. Army, starting at Camp Atterbury, Ind., where his first son was born. In November of 1951, he went to Germany, returning to the U.S. in 1952.
Sherry said it took him six years to finish college. He began studies at Indiana State College, driving 28 miles for morning classes and returning home to go to a coal stripping operation to run a bulldozer until midnight.
“My wife has said she married a stripper, not a preacher,” he said, laughing.
At the Western Pa. Conference in Wilkinsburg on May 15, 1958, he was appointed to East Freedom, a three-church charge near Altoona. He was advised to transfer to Penn State’s Altoona campus for one year, then continue to the main campus. He car pooled that 60-mile trip three days a week. But with church and family responsibilities, he was exhausted. He decided to take two literature courses while pastoring the churches.
Sherry was appointed to New Salem, a charge of four churches and he transferred to Clarion State College. He did student teaching in senior English at Clarion Limestone High School and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in education in January 1964.
Five months later, he was assigned to two churches in Lockington, Ohio. He commuted to United Theological Seminary and finished study in November 1967.
“I wanted to stay in Ohio. They were great farm people,” he said. “I ran a combine.”
He had financial trouble in his second year of the seminary and he was able to get financial aid.
“I don’t know how the seminary students do it today. Mine was just pennies compared to today,” he said. “The shortage of ministers and combined churches is because pastors coming out of seminary are $30,000 in debt.”
The Sherry family was reassigned to Rector on Dec. 1, 1967, and on May 15, 1968, he became an ordained elder.
Sherry served in three churches before retiring in 1994 and helped at churches in the Harnedsville, Listonburg and Silbaugh area until 2004.
“I’m still a traditionalist. I have the same faith in the one Lord,” he said.
He keeps a treasure chest with notes from people during his years in the ministry.
Betty McGee, a member of Calvary UMC and friend of Sherry’s, said she was impressed that he would go into the church early in the morning and sit in the pews the parishioners sat in on a regular basis or in the choir loft.
“He would pray for the people who sat there,” she said. “Especially if they had a problem going on in their life.”
She also remembers he was her secret prayer partner at one point in her life.
“I was going through a tough time and I had no idea he was my prayer partner,” she said. “He would call and we’d share our thoughts. I could feel prayers for me, but I didn’t know where they were coming from until the prayer partners were revealed.”
On balance, Sherry said his time in the ministry has featured more good moments than bad.
“After 50 years in the ministry, I can say there was more good, more joys than heartache and pain,” he said. “I overcame that fear of sickness and death over the years and I think ministering to people who are distraught is my strength.”
He said pastors are often reappointed to a new church in a new area, uprooting the family.
“If it wouldn’t have been for my wife, I never would have made it. She has been very supportive. The kids also put up with me,” he said. “The kids had some difficult times with moving. It’s an adjustment. But they’ve done well.”
He’s involved in Camp Allegheny. He remembers being a counselor in the camp his second year in the ministry and one night after a candlelight service, a young woman committed herself to the Lord and became a missionary.
“I’ve enjoyed a lot of those kinds of experiences,” he said.
Sherry is a member of Somerset Ministeries and served as its president. He is one of the original members of the Meals On Wheels and Food Pantry boards. He is chaplain of the Pa. State Association Family Campers and RVers and is president of the Mount Davis Maple Leafs chapter. He has missed only two camp conventions since 1972. Sherry is part of an overseas travel with educational opportunity program.
“We’ve taken more people to the Holy Land in 30 years than anyone. We’ve never had an incident,” he said. “We don’t go into the hot spots.”
Sherry himself has taken 10 European trips, including three to Israel. His next journey is July 7, 2010, and will include the Oberammergau Passion Play in Germany and an extended week in Israel.
Sherry enjoys golfing. He plays golf with the Northwinds Seniors and helps to coordinate with Marlin Miller, the Camp Allegheny “Saints and Sinners” Gold Tourmanent in July.
“My one disappointment is I have never met Arnold Palmer personally,” he said. He volunteered for last year’s U.S. Open and a couple years ago during a seniors tournament he got to drive Gary Player to where he was staying.
He also promotes himself as the “most rabid fan of University of Pittsburgh football and basketball and enthusiastic fan of the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates.”
Performances are daily from May through September and the next event will be in 2010. Most tickets are sold through tour operators, and tours that include the “Passion Play” are forming now. It is not too early to make reservations for groups or individuals to attend this spectacular, extraordinary and rarely seen extravaganza.
Just what is this “Passion Play?” It depicts the last five days in the life of Jesus Christ, from his early entry into Jerusalem until his Resurrection. Many publications call it “a play of suffering, death, and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It has been performed since 1634, in Oberammergau, by its inhabitants of all ages (from 5 to 90 years). Originally, in the 1630s, during the time of the bubonic plague (Black Death), the town’s citizens vowed that if God were to spare them they would perform a play every 10 years depicting the life and death of Jesus. The villagers believed that they were rescued from the plague after they kept their promise when the play was first performed, at Pentecost, in 1634. The first play was enacted on a stage at the cemetery, over the graves of the Black Death victims.
From that rudimentary drama, almost 400 years ago, has evolved a five-hour (with a long intermission for dinner) theatrical work complete with dramatic text, and musical and choral accompaniment. Audiences come from around the world to witness this unique spectacle.
This remarkable event, in the year 2000, was presented for its 40th time with more than 2,000 citizens of Oberammergau participating. The preparation takes more than two years, and performances are held in a 5,200-seat venue in this small, southern Germany community.
Very often, tours including the “Passion Play” appeal to family and religious groups. Tours can be customized to a group’s particular interests and specifications, or groups and individuals may join a pre-planned and guided tour. These tours usually range from seven days to two weeks in length, with only 2 or 3 days being spent in Oberammergau. The remaining days would include visits to other parts of Germany or Europe. Also offered are Danube River cruises incorporated into a tour including the “Passion Play.”
The options are numerous, only limited to your imagination. Your travel professional will be glad to map out the tour that is best for you or your group. Please don’t wait, as the tickets are limited to the number of performances already scheduled for 2010. Remember that if you miss the “Passion Play” in 2010 you will not have another opportunity to behold this singular event until 2020.
