GLIMPSE INTO THE EARLY CHURCH

~Correction: Minister's name should be spelled LAUNHARDT.

When the Rev. Lou Laundhart visited Turkey in April, he was so captivated by the history of the region he immediately wanted to return.

But Laundhart wanted to share that history and its significance for the Christian church with people back home. So he has planned a trip to Turkey for April to see the sites of the seven churches of Revelation.

He is also sharing information about Turkey and the early Christian Church with groups and churches in the area. He will speak at 6 p.m. Oct. 10 at a meeting of the Lutheran Heritage Society at Hanover Lutheran Church.

While visiting Turkey, Laundhart said he was "able to see what the cities were like during biblical times."

You can visit the gravesite in Ephesus where the apostle John is buried, temples designed for emperor worship and ruins of the early churches.

"It's as much a sightseeing trip as it is a religious experience," Laundhart said. "There are so many things that are vital to the biblical sites and I want to share that."

Laundhart has researched the history of the Christian church in Turkey. The trip is just a "glimpse of the early church and its persecution," he said.

In the letters written to churches at Phillipi and Ephesus, you can see the temptations the churches faced. Those letters were written to strengthen the church, Laundhart said.

And they offer valuable lessons today, which is what he wants the trip to depict.

During the Byzantine period, the Christian church was strengthened and gained power. The empire built some fabulous churches in Constantinople, Laundhart said.

But there were constant struggles for the early Christians. They were persecuted and some were martyred. "It was true test of their faith," he said.

By visiting the sites of temple ruins or graves marking where apostles lay, Laundhart said he gained even more insight into the Scriptures.

"You get a better understanding of what they were experiencing and what the Scriptures are saying," he said. "If you read it as the original readers read, then you understand."

Knowing more about the mythological influence or imperial worship makes more sense once you visit the region, Laundhart said. "You see the church in life with all its temptations and persecutions."

Turkey is a region that is as much at the core of Christianity as Greece or Israel, he said.

Laundhart, retired pastor of St. Andrew Lutheran Church, has been on other trips to the Holy Land in Israel or Greece, but said his recent trip to Turkey shows the church in a different phase.

"These places are still there even after all these years," he said. "Standing at the grave where one of the disciples is buried is amazing."

SEEING THE SIGHTS

A trip to the sites of the seven churches of Revelation

April 9 to 18

Cost: $2,149 from St. Louis

Contact: The Rev. Lou Laundhart by mail at 1025 Bella Vista Drive, Jackson, Mo. 63755-7846 or by phone at 243-7338 or e-mail launhrdt@showme.net

STOPS ALONG THE TRIP:

Day 1: Depart St. Louis on Turkish Airlines.

Day 2: Arrive in Istanbul. Visit Church of Irene, built by Justinian in 537 A.D., which is now a concert hall and the oldest church in Istanbul.

Day 3: Tour spice market and Church of St. Saviour in the Chora Monastery. Travel to Iznik, or Nicaea, for look at palace where first Ecumenical Council was held in 325. Council affirmed the human and divine natures of Jesus Christ and set a creed of Nicaea. The church Hagia Sophia, built in the sixth century, was also the site of the seventh Nicaea Council.

Day 4: Visit Hagia Sophia, which was the largest church in Christendom for 1,000 years. It is now an art museum. Flight to Izmir or Smyrna (Revelation 2, 8-11). Visit to St. Polycarp's Church for a service, then a visit to the Roman Agora.

Day 5: Leave for Bergama or Pergamum, another of the seven churches (Rev. 2, 12-17). Visit to Acropolis and ruins of Church of St. John, temples to Zeus and Athena. First Christians were executed by Rome in this city. Leave city for Thyatira, famous as a busy trading center (Revelation 1, 11:2, 18-29).

Day 6: Drive to Sardis (Revelation 3, 1-6) where coins were minted and wool dyeing originated. Also was site of Temple of Artemis. Travel to Philadelphia and Hieropolis (Revelation 3, 7-13 and Colossians 4, 13). Roman ruins cover more than a mile in Hieropolis. Statue here honors St. Philip, who is believed to have been martyred here.

Day 7: Travel to Laodicea, a church chastised for being lukewarm and incorporating pagan and Christian beliefs (Revelation 3, 14-22). Then on to Colossae, a town in obscurity. Church here was recipient of letter to Colossians. A visit to Miletus where Paul met with elders of Ephesus.

Day 8: Travel to Ephesus (Revelation 2, 1-7). Visit church of St. John where a wooden church was built over his tomb. John and mother of Jesus were believed to have lived in Ephesus. Third Ecumenical Council was held here, which accepted that virgin Mary lived and died here. Visit to her house. Visit public buildings and museums.

Day 9: Fly back to Istanbul. Visit Archaeological Museum and see the Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great, which dates back to the fourth century B.C. Visit to Grand Bazaar in afternoon.

Day 10: Board flight back to United States and St. Louis.