yeah, we can see that the fire burned all around the churchyard, but actually did not touch the church walls. we ve got some smoke damage and things inside, but it s really quite miraculous. and even the villagers themselves have described it as a halo around the church. if you look at an aerial view, there s a strip of grass almost the entire way around where the fire did not get to the church walls itself. and since that wildfire you have been very much involved in rebuilding the community here and supporting the community, how have the residents been rallying around? the first sunday after the fire i hadn t intended on having a service because the building was still close, but the villagers said if we can come in and be together and encourage one another, so we opened up the church, had tea and coffee and cake and just let them connect with one another. and you re from the west coast of the united states, so you must be quite used to seeing wildfires like this on a bigger scale out
but they re interested in reading and learning about it so we want to be there for them and to answer their questions present time. in recent years there have been reports about declining church membership including germany s lutheran church people are leaving in droves as the luther your stop this trend. you know it wasn t designed as a marketing campaign aimed at a turnaround but it might have had that effect exactly but i think major cultural events like this have a more subtle but also more sustainable effect that we ve already gained a lot if we ve awakened interest in religious questions in topics. for us it s important not just that people come back to the church but that we the church reach out to people with cultural events and collaborate with museums and concert venues that we go beyond the church walls and i think that has happened even if it.
that we go beyond the church walls and i think that has happened even if it did not . i mean you see the media focused on the church thanks to the luther year and gave it a lot of coverage i ve read that you didn t like one media description of luther as the first example of a so-called angry citizen why not. that s look at that was what it was a series in the magazine dish be good. but the media tends to over simplify. calling luther the first angry citizen associated him with the wave of right wing populism we re seeing in germany and i didn t like that association it luther was passionate he was extremely polemical he could be very hurtful but he was also willing to compromise he had a gentle side he wasn t a right wing populist but what is the main thing you would like germany to take away from the luther year. i don t know an awareness of that time in history that
she was because bricks were falling, the church walls itself was falling on top of the truck. the windshield of the truck were blowing out, the door came open and pushed backward to the front of the truck where she was. and all she could do was take shelter on the floor of the truck. oh, my goodness. she got a few cuts on her hand, nothing major, no scratches. both of us, i in particular, i didn t get anything out of it. i m grateful. the two of you were in separate locations under debris. how did you get out and figure out that your wife was okay? well, fortunately enough when it all stopped, i wasn t pinned in. i was just covered up. okay. so i stood up and began to get all the debris and dirt off of me and began to shout for her. for a moment she didn t answer for a minute or two. your heart must have stopped. she came back and shouted yes, i thought the tornado has taken her.
people who have fallen away, people who may be divorced, they feel like oh, my gosh, there s an opening now. i ll be curious to see whether more people are actually attending church and whether his message goes beyond just the church walls but goes, you know goes out. the exuberance, i can feel and hear the exuberance from over here, jennifer granholm. governor, it s great to see you. thanks for your time. thanks as always for your time. when we come back, the other humongous story of this day, the peakerng resignation of s of the house john boehner. the one and only chris matthews will join me on that amazing news, coming up next. hey babe, last one home cooks?