The last Sunday in October is the day on which denominations whose roots are grounded in the 16th century Protestant Reformation celebrate as “Reformation Sunday.”
With seminal beginnings in the late 15th century, the Protestant Reformation was a reactive protest against corruption, gross abuse of power and privilege within the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Many people were martyred who dared question the authority of the Catholic Church. The bellwether event, often erroneously thought to be the “beginning” of the Protestant Reformation, took place in October of 1517 when the German, Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, nailed a list of 95 grievances (Theses) to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. The movement was the direct or indirect result of several co-operating forces long at work in western European Christendom prior to Luther.
Some of the conditions that influenced the Protestant Reformation and ecclesiastical abuses cited by Luther included (1) the concentration of ecclesiastical power in the hands of the Bishop of Rome-the Pope; (2) the Church’s control of civil and ecclesiastical authority; (3) disputed authority between civil and ecclesiastical governments to levy taxes on the people; (4) a growing populist feeling throughout the Renaissance including the belief that one’s access to God did not have to go through any intermediary person or authority eg., the priesthood of all believers; (5) scandalous living of many of the popes, bishops and priests within a culture of moral turpitude; (6) belief that God’s grace was freely offered to all through God’s forgiving love, and it could not be bought; (7) justification of faith which involved the rejection of penances–buying your way out of Purgatory—a practice that made the Church breathtakingly wealthy; (8) the right of every individual to his/her own interpretation and individuality within matters religious; (9) insistence on the Bible as the sole authority for the Christian in religious teaching and practice; and many more.
Lutheran, Presbyterian denominations (and others) grew out of this movement and today we remember, celebrate and give thanks for the hundreds of men and women martyred for their beliefs, founders of the Reformed religious communities we know today. Luther’s great hymn, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” became the battlecry of the Reformation, and it’s proclamation of courage in the face of a world with devils filled,” echoes today with the same clarity it did in the 16th century.
This years observance will be this Sunday, October 28th. At both services, we will welcome people who have united with St. Stephen congregation during the past 12 months, and at the 11:00 a.m. service, the baptism of Brian Andrew Singleterry (adult).