Editing Dietrich Bonhoeffer (section)

=== Ministries in London ===
When Bonhoeffer was offered a parish post in eastern Berlin in the autumn of 1933, he refused it in protest at the Nationalist policy, and he accepted a two-year appointment as a pastor of two German-speaking Protestant churches in London: the [[United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Germany|German Lutheran Church]] in Dacres Road, [[Sydenham, London|Sydenham]],<ref name="ushmm" /><ref>{{Cite web|title = Open charities | url = http://opencharities.org/charities/290945|website=Opencharities.org}}</ref> and the German Reformed Church of St Paul's, Goulston Street, [[Whitechapel]].<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.stgite.org.uk/media/germanchurches.html | title = German churches | publisher = STGite | place = UK | access-date = 7 January 2014 | archive-date = 7 January 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140107113714/http://www.stgite.org.uk/media/germanchurches.html | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | title = Dietrich Bonhoeffer Kirche (German Church, Sydeham) | publisher = AIM25: Archives in London and the M25 area | place = UK | url = http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=12592&inst_id=118 | access-date = 17 May 2012 | archive-date = 5 November 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131105021336/http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/vcdf/detail?coll_id=12592&inst_id=118 | url-status = dead }}.</ref> He explained to Barth that he had found little support for his views on devotion to literally following the words of Jesus—even among friends—and that "it was about time to go for a while into the desert". Barth regarded this as running away from a real battle. He sharply rebuked Bonhoeffer, saying, "I can only reply to all the reasons and excuses which you put forward: 'And what will now happen to the people of the German Church?'" Barth accused Bonhoeffer of abandoning his post and wasting his "splendid theological armory" while "the house of your church is on fire", and chided him to return to Berlin "by the next ship".<ref>Dietrich Bonhoeffer, ''Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works: London 1933–1935'', p. 40</ref>

Bonhoeffer, however, did not go to England simply to avoid trouble at home; he hoped to put the ecumenical movement to work in the interest of the Confessing Church. He continued his involvement with the Confessing Church, running up a high telephone bill to maintain his contact with Martin Niemöller. In international gatherings, Bonhoeffer rallied people to oppose the Deutsche Christen movement and its attempt to amalgamate Nazi nationalism with Christianity. When Bishop {{Interlanguage link|Theodor Heckel|de}}—the official in charge of German Lutheran Church foreign affairs—traveled to London to warn Bonhoeffer to abstain from any ecumenical activity not directly authorized by Berlin, Bonhoeffer refused to abstain.<ref name="Dietrich Bonhoeffer p. 19">Dietrich Bonhoeffer, ''A Testament to Freedom,'' ed. Geffrey B. Kelly, p. 19</ref>