Reformation Sunday by Mike Poteet A Sunday to Celebrate? If your congregation is singing Martin Luther’s hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” in worship today, it isn’t alone. Many Protestant churches mark the last Sunday in October as Reformation Sunday. Tradition holds that on October 31, 1517, Luther nailed a copy of 95 Connecting theses (propositions for debate) challenging medieval church teaching Faith and Life and papal authority to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Although volume 20, number 26 this fiercely dramatic scene probably never took place, Luther’s docu- october 26, 2014 ment is real, and it really did help spark the Protestant Reformation. Many Americans today don’t know much about Luther. In 2010, Session at a Glance the Pew Research Center found less than half of respondents (46 per- cent) could identify him and his significance. More Jews (70 per- Today many Protestants celebrate cent), atheists and agnostics (68 percent), and Mormons (61 percent) Reformation Sunday. What was the knew about him than did Protestants (47 percent). Reformation? What can we learn from it? How can the Reformation’s legacy This lack of knowledge may stem partly from Protestants’ dimin- help us grow in our faith? ished place in American society. In 2012, also according to Pew Research, Protestants made up 48 percent of the US population, los- ing their majority status of more than two centuries. Although Con- FaithLink is available by subscription via e-mail (
[email protected]) gress remains majority Protestant, it is “far less so today than . or by downloading it from the Web 50 years ago, when nearly three-quarters of the members belonged to (www.cokesbury.com/faithlink).