St. Lucas Church is the Evangelical Lutheran parish church in the center of the Lower Saxon town of Scheeßel in the district of Rotenburg.[1]

Scheeßel formed the religious and cultural center of the parish Scheeßel for many centuries as a church place. The church was mentioned for the first time in a Verden episcopal document from 1205, in which it was determined that only members of the Verden cathedral chapter should be conferred the Archdeacon to Scheeßel. Presumably, the first church in Scheeßel was built around the 9th century, starting from the bishopric in Verden.[2]

In addition to the main village of Scheeßel belonging to the parish, the villages Abbendorf, Appel, Bartelsdorf, Bult, Deepen, Drenloh, Einloh, Emmen, Griemshop, Helvesiek, Hetzwege, Hunhorn, Jeersdorf, Lauenbrück, Ostervesede, Rehr, Riepe, Sothel, Stemmen, Stemmerfeld, Vahlde, Veerse, Wenkeloh, Westeresch, Westerholz, Westervesede, Wittkopsbostel, and Wohlsdorf also belong to the parish. The inhabitants of these villages have to compete every Sunday with wind and weather on the way to the church in Scheeßel.[3]

For example,the distance from Wenkeloh to St. Lucas Church is about 4.5 to 6 km (~ 2.5 to ~3.5 miles) following current day roads. And, the time of travel using modern automobiles is about 9 minutes. And, walking requires about an hour.

Notes

1. See: Wikipedia: St. Lucas-Kirche (Scheeßel)
2. See: Scheeßel Wiki: Scheeßel  at http://www.scheessel-wiki.de/index.php?title=Schee%C3%9Fel
3. See: Scheeßel Wiki: Hauptseite at http://www.scheessel-wiki.de/index.php?title=Hauptseite
4. Shared by Jochen Homann May, 2020