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We have been hearing a lot about the upcoming 500th anniversary of the Reformation. In fact, we aren’t the only church body celebrating it. Even ELCA is publicising it and using it to promote and fund world missions. Google returns over half a million hits concerning it, and I know there are more.
This blog post contains many Reformation resources. I found them difficult to locate so I linked to them for you.
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The history of the Bible is a whole study in itself. Luther’s translation was the first major edition to have a separate section called the Apocrypha.
At the time of Luther, the official Bible of the catholic church was the Latin Vulgate. Luther did translate from the original Greek and Hebrew, but he was influenced by the Vulgate.
As I understand it, the books of the New Testament were put in random order. Luther is the one who organized them the way we see them today. It is of interest that Luther was more focused on the readability of the German than the literal translation. It had to pass his “ear test.” Not the “eye test.”
This whole translation history would fill a book.
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Christian Standard Bible
While I am on the topic of the Bible, I would like to share a resource I discovered concerning the Christian Standard Bible
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The Christian Standard Bible is one of the translation being considered by the translation team. Northwestern Publishing House has decided to stock the CSB, so print copies may be acquired through them.
Compare Bible Translations
The full text is online at http://read.csbible.com
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[su_spoiler title=”Pastors and Church Leaders can request a free copy here.” icon=”arrow”]
Using the CSB in Your Ministry
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Synod’s Preparation for Reformation 500
Preparation for the anniversary has been in the works for a long time. President Mark Schroeder appointed the Reformation 500 Committee in 2009 in order to guide the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.
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We have a special historic opportunity to celebrate the blessings God has preserved to us through the Reformation. But this is not just a historical moment in time. It is an opportunity to help the members of our congregations and the communities in which God has placed them to learn again of God’s grace in Christ. May we all use the opportunity to reach out and share what we have come to treasure.
Congregations, districts, and associations of congregations will be hosting Reformation events around the country this fall. It is an opportunity to gather with your fellow Lutherans and worship. Rejoice and praise God that he has preserved the truth of his Word to us 500 years since Luther sparked the reformation and brought the church back to grace alone, faith alone, Scripture alone, and Christ alone.
One goal of Synod is to use the Reformation Anniversary as a tool for outreach. You will be hearing more about “Mission and Ministry” later in the year. It is modeled after “Mission Festival.”
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Communication Services
Communication Services produced materials used to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. The Communication Services staff launched a Reformation 500 section on wels.net that features stories and resources on Martin Luther.
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Working with the Northwestern Publishing House team we provide a Reformation/ Luther product list with links and images for NPH resources. Content from NPH publications provide an introduction to Luther and the Reformation.
A listing of Reformation events around the synod is also available. We plan to increase the visible church known as WELS both in the state of Wisconsin, home to our largest concentration of congregations, and nationally.
The new Luther film, A Return to Grace: Luther’s Life and Legacy, community screening campaign established WELS as a beacon of confessional Lutheranism and promotes the idea that all of our congregations are places where the law and gospel are preached.
Hundreds of WELS/ELS congregations will host a screening of the film at their local theater in 2017.
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A Return to Grace: Luther’s Life and Legacy
With the financial help of Thrivent and the creative expertise of Boettcher/Trinklein, which produces the WELS Connection videos, a new Luther film is now available. The film is entitled A Return to Grace: Luther’s Life and Legacy and focuses on confessional Lutheran themes.
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Congregations can show the 105-minute film in neighborhood theaters with the help of TUGG. The process is simple and can be explored at wels.net/reformation500.
Host a showing of the Luther film, A Return To Grace: Luther’s Life and Legacy, and invite prospects, friends, and relatives to view it with you. It has opened the door for conversation and witness.
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Educational Resources
Synod has prepared materials to educate pastors, teachers, laypeople, and children. Unfortunately, I was unable to locate these resources on wels.net.
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- a Lenten kit for 2017 with sermons based on a Reformation theme, Repent! Turn to Jesus!
- a Christmas kit;
three series of bulletin inserts;
- a translation of some of Luther’s Christmas sermons that can be used for devotional purposes;
- a new Reformation history, Luther’s Protest;
- a book of new essays celebrating the Reformation, Reformation 500: The Enduring Relevance of the Lutheran Reformation;
- a translation by John Montgomery of a French work entitled In Defense of the Lutheran Faith.
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Northwestern Publishing House (NPH)
As we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, NPH is supporting synod wide efforts to observe this important event with resources for pastors, congregations, and schools.
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NPH has recently released 15 new Reformation books, curriculum, Bible studies, and other resources and has re-released four classic books from previous Luther offerings.
The objective of the mix of materials is to deepen understanding of Martin Luther among our pastors, called workers, students, and Christians at all levels of maturity.
NPH has also collaborated with WELS Communication Services and WELS Commission on Evangelism to provide outreach materials to be used by local congregations for the anniversary.
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- The Life and Faith of Martin Luther (A. Fehlauer);
- Martin Luther, Reformer in the Making (E. Scharf);
- Martin Luther and the Jews (N. Tjernagel);
- Martin Luther and the Long Reformation (Kiecker);
- Studies in the Smalcald Articles (Meyer/Brenner);
- In Defense of Martin Luther (Montgomery);
- Luther’s A Simple Way to Pray. One version of this is included in Luther’s Small Catechism (Enciridion).
These resource can be found at http://online.nph.net
NPH will release a new version of the exposition to Martin Luther’s Catechism. The new exposition was developed with the Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Education Department and includes several new features that promote lifelong use of Luther’s Catechism.
Forward in Christ is planning a special Lutheran Reformation 500th anniversary issue in October 2017. The issue will include a historical timeline of the Reformation as an insert.
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Reformation Bible Studies
Two Bible studies for congregational use are also available. Both make use of video footage from the Luther film.
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The first is entitled simply A Return to Grace: Luther’s Life and Legacy Bible Study. This four-lesson Bible study makes use of 10-minute segments from the Luther film to augment the class discussion. We have limited the length of the segments to allow for discussion and questions.
The second is entitled Reformation: Grace, Faith, Scripture. This Bible study was created for a variety of uses in our congregations and is created around 12 short film vignettes (three to four minutes each). The short vignettes can be scheduled and shown to the assembled congregation to highlight the important truths of the Reformation.
They can be used as opening devotions for organizations in the congregation and in confirmation instruction classes. The Bible study kit contains two series of Bible studies to use with these short films— a five-minute study and a regular-length Bible study. The Bible study includes a number of promotional and educational resources for the congregation’s use.
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NPH
Northwestern has many offering concerning the Reformation
[su_spoiler title=”Look at what NPH is offering concerning the celebration” icon=”arrow”]
NPH has an online store for reformation stuff. It even includes shirts and coffee mugs.
Personally, I think it looks more like Amazon. Just for fun, take a look at Amazon’s offerings.
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The Commission on Evangelism and Board for Home Missions
The Commission on Evangelism and Board for Home Missions have prepared materials for four outreach events for congregations. They can be found on here.
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These resources are available to assist congregations to invite their prospects and neighbors to visit and learn the importance of the Bible’s teachings. The suggested dates and emphases are:
- Nov. 5, 2017: Scripture Alone
- Nov. 26, 2017: Christ Alone
- Dec. 17, 2017: Grace Alone
- Jan. 7, 2018: Faith Alone
The resources include special worship liturgies friendly to visitors to our churches; sermon studies for these special days; and promotion, invitation, and follow-up materials with an emphasis on encouraging members to invite their friends and relatives.
Download here
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What Others are Doing
It is always fun, and beneficial to see what others are doing. You may find some of the material more appealing than what the WELS is offering.
Everybody congregation is different and approaches ministry different. Don’t forget about your own ministry either. Perhaps these resources fill a need for you.
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http://els.org/lutheran-500
Personally, I like how the ELS is making use of 3rd party resources.
http://lutheranreformation.org
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Synod has put a lot of effort into maximizing the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. In fact, the whole word is. Make sure your congregation knows about these resources. We know pastors tend to get overwhelmed with the flood of information.
In closing, consider how you can use this in your own, private ministries.
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