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Next year marks 500 years since Martin Luther set off the Protestant Reformation in Germany, and the Diocese of Leeds will be playing a part in the celebrations.
The Reformation was the religious and political upheaval that splintered Catholic Europe, setting in place structures and beliefs that continue to this day.
At the end of October 2016, Bishop Nick and members of the diocese’s link with the Lutheran Evangelical Church in Erfurt will help kick start a year of events in Germany. And in May 2017, a delegation from the diocese will be going to the German Protestant Kirchentag conference in Berlin and Wittenberg.
On 31 October (Martin Luther Day) Bishop Nick has been invited to preach in the monastery in Erfurt where Luther spent three formative years (1505-8).
The start of the Reformation is associated with 31 October as it was on this day in 1517 that Martin Luther allegedly nailed his 95 theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg (where he was a university lecturer). He attacked corruption in the Church (such as the sale of forgiveness to finance the building of St Peter’s in Rome) and his overarching message was that salvation isn’t earned by good deeds but is received only as the free gift of God's grace.
Bishop Nick says, “Luther rebelled against authorities that turned people's eyes down into the muck of human failure instead of up into the freedom of forgiveness and a new start.
“He was empowered by one simple discovery: we can never be perfect, but we can be liberated by knowing we are freely loved by God. 'Grace' it was called. It changed him, and he changed the world.”
Read more on Bishop Nick’s blog here
Educational resources on the Reformation can be found on the website Here I Stand.
German Protestant Kirchentag 24-28 May 2017, Berlin and Wittenberg
The Kirchentag is a huge event which takes place every two years. It’s been described as a combination of the Edinburgh Festival, Greenbelt, Taizé, the Keswick Convention and an Open University summer school. Over five days 100,000 visitors (many under 30) attend 2500 events exploring faith, culture and politics.
This year will focus on the Reformation. Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, Chair of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), says, “Clearly differing from all other centenaries, we will send a signal of reconciliation and herald a new departure. The 500th Reformation anniversary will put Christ in the centre. After all, the Reformers did not want to found a new church, they wanted to point to Jesus Christ.”
If you’re interested in going with the diocesan group (there are excellent translation facilities, so you don’t need to speak German), please email the Archdeacon of Pontefract, the Venerable Peter Townley.
Our Canon Theologian asks “Why bother with the Reformation?’
Charlotte Methuen, Senior Lecturer in Church History at Glasgow University, has particular expertise in the German Reformation. At a clergy study day in the diocese last year she explained the impact that the Reformation still has today 500 years later. You can read a summary of her talk here.