Happy Reformation Day!

On the Eve of All Saints, Day, October 31, 1517, Augustinian Father Doctor Martin Luther, professor of Scripture at the University of Wittenberg, Germany posted an invitation to debate on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral. The invitation to debate contained ninety-five points, or theses, concerning the sale of indulgences. Luther chose this date for posting his theses because the coming holy day (All Saints' Day) would bring many of the community to services, ensuring that his statements would receive wide exposure.

We celebrated Reformation Sunday last Sunday (October 26) in church and sang the great Martin Luther hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" in thanksgiving for the influence of the 15th and 16th century reformers, including Martin Luther.

One caution regarding Reformation Day however - The United Methodist Church has both a Protestant as well as a Catholic heritage. Protestant in the sense that we have inherited the influence of the Reformation from our Anglican Church heritage and Catholic in the sense that the Anglican Church was also steeped in the rich Catholic heritage dating all the way back to the 3rd century in England. Modern day United Methodists tend to forget that the Anglican Church from which we were born through John Wesley, himself an Anglican Priest, has both a Protestant and a Catholic flavor to it. Part of our forgetfulness is due to the American Methodists becoming their own denomination in 1784 and some distancing from our Anglican roots over the past 200 years.

This distancing from our Anglican roots is regretful since both the Protestant and Catholic heritage offer a rich diversity of theology and practice. For example, we don't only emphasize the importance of the Bible (Protestant), but we also want to celebrate the importance of the Sacraments (Catholic).

Reformation Day Prayer:
Almighty God, gracious Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon your faithful people. Keep them steadfast in your Word, protect and comfort them in all temptations, defend them against all their enemies, and bestow on the Church your saving peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord,who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.