Reformation Celebration 2011

Friday night we had our annual Reformation Celebration at church. 

We played "Pin the 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Church Door" and William ran a "fishing game" which I wanted to call "Lucky Dipping," but figured that would be lost on the kids. 

They were most interested in the attendant candy, of course.         

This year we added a costume contest and had quite a number participate, both adults and children.  I don't know if you can blow it up at all to find my kids but Johanna is on the right (holding the bumble bee), dressed as Queen Elizabeth; Micah is in the middle, dressed as Luke Skywalker; Sam is beside him, very well disguised as bad Spiderman (I don't know if that's his official name, but that's what I'm going with); William is in the middle back, officially dressed as a pirate but looking much more like a Hasidic Jew.   

One family, recently transplanted from Canada, came as a hocky team; one young man came in a vintage Marine uniform, circa 1950; one lady won a prize in the swimsuit category (sponsored by Sports Illustrated, of course) for wearing her grandmother's wool bathing suit, complete with bloomers underneath. 

On a more serious, educational note, a small group of volunteer singers performed four selections with tunes rooted in the Reformation.  From the Psalter we sang 95C and 38B with tunes by Louis Bourgois; from the Trinity hymnal we sang 220 and 554 with tunes written by Martin Luther.  I'm not sure how we sounded but we had fun rehearsing and "performing."

We also had our twin grad student guitar players perform for us - a lovely treat whenever we get to hear them.

A good deal of yummy food and a good deal of warm fellowship rounded out the evening.

All in all, a very good way to commemorate the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg church door and unwittingly sparked the Protestant Reformation.  We celebrate God's goodness to us through men like Martin Luther and John Calvin and give thanks for His preserving His Truth so that we might live freely by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone revealed in Scripture alone to the glory of God.