Liturgical Colour: Red

On October 31, we commemorate the Reformation. You may wish to celebrate this festival on the previous Sunday – 25 October.

‘This is the anniversary of Luther’s posting of his 95 theses concerning the sale of indulgences. In the sixteenth century various dates were suggested in various places for an annual commemoration of the reform of the church. The Thirty Years War disrupted these observances and provoked anti-Roman sentiment. In 1667, Elector John George II of Saxony reestablished the festival and appointed it for October 31. The celebration of the day spread among Lutherans, but the observance is not widely kept by Protestant Christians, nor is it universal among world Lutherans. It is the only day in the calendar peculiar to the Lutheran church.’ (Contemporary Worship 6: The Church Year, Calendar and Lectionary, 1973)