Celebrating 500 Years of Reformation: An Invitation to Fiesta on the Border November 10-11

This year marks the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Celebrations will abound in many of our churches, commemorations will be marked, even the Roman Catholics and Lutherans have moved from “agreeing to disagree” to “agreeing to agree.” Love is in the air.

The power of the Reformation, at least in part, is the power unleashed when God’s people speak from a place of core conviction, speak to the timeless truths revealed in  God’s Word, and stand upon these truths and convictions for the sake of people’s freedom, justice, and salvation. To speak truth to power unleashed God’s Spirit then, as we do so again God’s Spirit will be unleashed now.

There are several ways to describe the foundation upon which the Reformation was built, one of which is to highlight was in known as “the five solas”:

·         Sola Christus (Christ alone)                *Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone)

·         Sola gratia (Grace alone)                    *Sola Gloria (God’s glory alone)

·         Sola fide (Faith alone)

These five solas form a kind of short-hand to describe the theological foundation upon which the Reformation was built, but the genius of the Reformers is that they knew better than merely to settle for a Church with only a foundation.

Upon the foundation of the five solas, the Reformers instituted a change mechanism that requires growth, engagement, discernment, reflection, and transformation. I am speaking, of course, of the mantra The Church Reformed, Always Being Reformed according to the Word of God. Neither Luther nor Calvin would likely recognize our congregations as too similar to their own, but I trust they would recognize our congregations as Spirit-inspired great-great-grandchildren whose common life is a faithful response to the crucible of history, culture, and missional needs with which we are confronted.

Celebrating how we got from there to here, from Luther and Calvin to who we are today, is the theme of a 500^th Reformation Anniversary celebration to which you and all your friends are invited. This celebration is co-sponsored by the presbytery, Frontera de Cristo, and our brothers and sisters in the Presbyterian Church of Mexico. It will take place in Douglas – Agua Prieta on Friday evening and Saturday morning, November 10-11 (click on this flier for full details).

The theme of Reformed and Always being Reformed will be conveyed through two keynote presentations by distinguished speakers from the PCUSA and the PCM. The Rev. Dr. Jose Luis Casal, Director of PCUSA World Mission, will present the first keynote: 500 Years of Reformed Missiology: How We Came to Our Understanding of Mission Today. The Rev. Dr. Ramon Garcia from the Presbyterian Church of Mexico will present the second keynote: Reformation and Migration: A Social-Theological Reading. I will preach at our bi-national worship service, (though my sermon will likely be a wee bit less scholarly than either of the Revs. Drs. Casal or Garcia). A good time will be had by all; even more, the Spirit will move and we will continue to be Always Being Reformed.

Ven a la frontera,

Brad Munroe