Review (5/5): About this book ...
The first edition of The Presence came out in 1945 and went through two printings. Berthold von Schenk had by then been a LCMS parish pastor for 27 years and was serving his third parish, Our Saviour Lutheran Church in the Bronx, New York. The material came from years of sermons, lectures and retreat meditations. The Presence is his confession of what the Holy Eucharist means to him and what it can mean for us: the actual presence and self-giving of the living Christ.
The 65 years since its original publication have not diminished the power of The Presence to illuminate the well-known narratives and doctrines of our faith in striking ways. It would be a rare pastor or layperson who reads it through without recognizing thereafter holy ground not seen before in worship and life, and without an ever-deepening love for Holy Communion.
This edition is an updated printing of von Schenk's original 1945 edition. Footnotes and an introduction are provided by The Rev. Paul Robert Sauer, current pastor of Our Saviour Lutheran Church in the Bronx, New York.