Christmas and Easter are a big deal in the church, but for Lutherans, there’s another important holiday—Reformation Sunday. Celebrated on the last Sunday of October each year, Reformation Sunday commemorates the Reformation, which began in 1517, and the start of the Protestant church.
Why does the Reformation matter? In the early sixteenth century, the Roman Catholic church was raising money by selling indulgences. Basically, if you committed a sin, you could buy indulgences to make up for it and shorten the time you were going to spend in purgatory after you died.
Martin Luther did not approve of selling indulgences and published his famous 95 Theses—the reasons he didn’t agree with this practice. Luther believed that we didn’t need to buy our way to forgiveness because, through God’s grace and mercy, our sins have already been forgiven.
Many people have heard about Luther’s 95 Theses, but not many know what was really going on at the time or why Luther wrote them. Steps Back in Time: An Intergenerational Reformation Event, available on Sparkhouse Digital, provides the opportunity for congregation members of all ages to travel back in time and explore the Reformation from a historical perspective.
This intergenerational event provides a fun and informative time of fellowship for a group of up to sixty. The event creates a playful, interactive community experience that highlights theological innovations and enacts memorable elements of social history from Martin Luther’s sixteenth-century Germany.
Actors adopt historical roles as sixteenth-century butchers, farmers, landowners, and more. Participants travel through a “time machine” back in time to the village of Eisenach in 1540. They go from station to station and interview the “locals” about what’s happening at the time. The villagers share information about their life, world, and experience of the Reformation in its earliest years. At the end of the event, the groups travel back to the present and share their finding with one another.
Fun for all ages, Steps Back in Time is a great way to engage your church in fellowship with one another and learn the “family history” of the Lutheran church. Check it out on Sparkhouse Digital today!
