Reformation 12 Lesson Countdown

I have a confession to make. A year ago I could not understand why everyone was making such a big deal about the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. And this, despite the fact that for the past three years I had been spending a few days each May in the city of Wittenberg, the birthplace of the Reformation.  Yes, I knew logically why it was important but somehow I did not feel a personal connection.

​Then a sudden switch in topic for a conference in Kiev resulted in a study that made the topic relevant to my own life and ministry. Topic request? Lessons we can learn from the Reformation.

Now if this request had come from Germany, it would have been logical but Ukraine, a land not directly impacted by the Reformation? Ukraine, a country predominately Orthodox? Yet in October 2016, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko issued a decree calling for the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in order to call attention to and reaffirm “the enormous contribution of Protestant churches and religious organizations . . . and to express respect for their role in Ukrainian history.”

Since I had written extensively on the Reformation and the impact of Martin Luther on worship in the church for the Ukrainian Sacred Music History book, Part I, Vitaliy Bolgar, organizer of the event, asked me to switch to this topic as part of their conference for musicians, artists and worship leaders. This lead me to identify 12 Lessons for effective ministry to be learnt from the life of Martin Luther and the Reformation.

In addition, it seems that the time spent year after year in Wittenberg as part of the Hirtenkonferenz was having  an effect on me. Wittenberg had been strategically chosen by the EBTC (Europäisches Bibel Trainings Centrum) as a build-up location to the International Reformation Conference held May 2017. Add to all this the inspiring thought provoking speakers at the conference, and suddenly so many things were relevant to ministry and church in the 21st century.

It was with a different mindset that I found myself standing once more in front of the door at the Castle church were it is said that Luther posted the 95 Theses. This moment is immortalized on the bronze doors installed in 1858 to replace the original wooden doors that had first burned in 1760 during Europe's Seven Years War (1754-1763). The 1770 replacement church was subsequently destroyed in the conflict against Napoleon which ended with the town under Prussian control in 1815. In 1857, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia ordered a replacement portal door cast in bronze with Luther's 95 theses engraved into the door as memorial. 

 The 12 blogs that follow will share the 12 lessons as presented to the conference attendees. I offer them here because I believe they are valuable to all involved in any aspects of creativity.