Colo. Lutherans, Catholics And Others Mark Reformation's 500th

FORT COLLINS, CO -- October 31 this year is marked around the world as the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, a European Christian religious and political revolution that marked a breakaway from the Catholic church in Rome. Five-hundred years later, some Colorado churches commemorated the Reformation with celebrations that popped up this weekend, including some ecumenical services that included Catholics, Lutherans and other Protestants.

On Oct. 31, 1517, a young Martin Luther sent his “95 Theses” to the local bishop complaining about the sale of “indulgences” -- a sort of “get-out-of-purgatory-free card – to build St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Luther also advocated the publication of the Bible in the “vernacular,” native languages of Christians, instead of Latin. The resulting rift led to hundreds of years of bloodshed in Europe and around the world.

A half-millennium later, in Fort Collins, new Pastor Rick Reiten welcomed two new congregations to Trinity Lutheran Church in an ecumenical service complete with 50-member choir, led by Paul Falk, handbell performing J.S. Bach music and a potluck. At the service were members of St. Paul Episcopal and Mary of Magdala Ecumenical Catholic Parish. Reiten was joined on the altar by St. Paul’s Rev. Lyn Burns and Mary of Magdala’s Fr. Jim DeMuth.
What could get these different congregations into one building after 500 years of differences? In Fort Collins, it’s money and shrinking membership.
St. Paul’s sold their building near Colorado State University, which had housed the congregation for almost 50 years. It will be replaced by student housing. The congregation chose not to merge with Fort Collins’s St. Luke Episcopal parish, but is seeking another location.
The small Mary of Magdala parish is part of a movement of independent Catholic parishes that allow women preachers, are welcoming to LGBT members, allow marriage after divorce and married clergy. The Catholic parish had been renting worship space from St. Paul’s for several years.
Now both will maintain offices at Trinity Lutheran, helping the large church and school with bills.
At Trinity’s service, children wore Martin Luther masks and Reiten called for unity.
“There may be 300 bodies here, but there is one Body, the Body of Christ, the church,” Reiten said. He admitted Luther was a “divisive figure” in the history of Christianity and said he didn’t care for the hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.
Participants, many tearing up, said the service was moving.
“I never expected to see anything like this, except maybe in heaven,” said one parishioner.

In Denver, the Saint Paul Lutheran and Roman Catholic Community of Faith has shared the gothic historic church at 1600 Grant Street for several years, as part of a religious movement called “Reconciling in Christ.”
St. Paul’s, co-led by Interim Lutheran Pastor,The Rev. Penni Walsh and Catholic prist Fr. Don Sutton, the congregation hosted a month-long celebration including an Oct. 27 performance of Reformation era music by St. Martin’s Chamber Choir, a “Service of Reformation and Reconciliation” and a music festival featuring the Hymns of Martin Luther.
The Reformation and its reverberations led to a history of religious and political strife, including the Counter-Reformation and the founding of various Protestant faiths including Methodism, Presbyterianism and Anglican/Episcopalian and other offshoots such as the Quakers, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Baptists.
Last year, Pope Francis visited Sweden to commemorate the beginning of the Reformation’s 500th year, and celebrated how far both Catholicism and Lutheranism have come to meet in the middle. The Catholic Church has changed in 500 years, as have Protestant churches, and now many faith leaders say they realize they have more in common than they have differences.

Image of Martin Luther's head on a centerpiece in Trinity Lutheran Church, Fort Collins. Via Patch.