***PRESS RELEASE***
Illinois, Ill – Area congregations are celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation with a variety of special events.
The Lutheran churches from Pana, Shelbyville, Sullivan, Strasburg, Stewardson, Sigel, and Shumway are holding a special convocation on Sunday, October 22 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Strasburg.
Area pastors will present small group sessions on a variety of topics.
Children are invited to enjoy the experiential “Reformation Walk.” Rev. Jonathan Fisk will then present a keynote address entitled “No, Prince! No Head!” A Faith Worth Dying For. Pastor Fisk will also serve as preacher for the concluding worship service.
Registration for this free event opens at 1:30pm.
The learning sessions start promptly at 2:30pm, with the Keynote starting at 4:00pm. Closing worship begins at 5:15pm.
Most historians date the start of the Protestant Reformation from Martin Luther’s posting of 95 debate topics (or theses) on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany, on October 31, 1517.
From the university there, Luther and other reformers challenged various Church traditions that seemed to contradict the teaching of the Bible.
The impact of this movement is still felt to this day, not only in theology, but also in education, government, social services, the arts – nearly every facet of our modern life.
Pastors at the Reformation 500 Convocation will present on several of those areas of impact.
Pastor Becker of Strasburg will present the document that started it all – the 95 Theses.
Pastor Gillet of Dieterich will discuss Luther’s work of translating the Bible from the original languages and why we have so many different translations in English today.
Pastor Jukola of Casey will examine the Book of Concord, a collection of documents that came out of Reformation and are still used to clarify what it means as a Lutheran to teach Biblically. Pastor Rensner of Shumway will present the life and work of Katherine von Bora Luther, Martin Luther’s wife.
Pastor Mohr of Strasburg will look at the relationship and theology of the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church to see what, if any, healing has taken place over the past 500 years.
Plenary Speaker, Rev. Jonathan Fisk, is a nationally sought-after speaker on a variety of topics regarding life and faith.
He hosts a YouTube channel called Worldview Everlasting, and serves as program host for KFUO radio in St. Louis, the oldest continuously operating religious radio station in the country.
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church is located on IL Route 32 on the south edge of Strasburg.
Press Release courtesy of Rev. Michael Mohr