REF500 festival at Union to mark 500th anniversary of Protestant Reformation
JACKSON, Tenn. — To celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation’s beginning, Union University’s Ryan Center for Biblical Studies will host a REF500 festival March 9-11.
Martin Luther took hammer and nail to the door of the Wittenberg Chapel in Germany in 1517, setting in motion a series of events that changed the world. Ray Van Neste, director of the Ryan Center and professor of biblical studies at Union, said Luther was motivated primarily by pastoral concern about his people being deceived into believing that they could buy the forgiveness of their sins.
The Protestant Reformation that followed was, according to Van Neste, the greatest revival in the history of the church after Pentecost.
“That’s a big claim, but I think it’s true,” Van Neste said. “I think often times people miss seeing the Reformation as a revival. But the people involved, that’s what they see it as. I think sometimes people think of it as merely an academic thing, but it comes out of pastoral concern.
“This is a recovery of the gospel. It’s a rejuvenation or revival of the church.”
The central piece to Union’s celebration of the Reformation is REF500, a three-day festival with lectures from visiting scholars, breakout sessions covering a variety of topics, a music concert by Union’s music department, an art exhibit, a film showing and a Bible exhibit.
Van Neste said since the church in the United States is often dormant, lackluster and looking for renewal, one of the strategies for believers should be to look to great times of renewal in the past, such as the Reformation, for lessons that are relevant for today.
“If we look back carefully, we can see forward more clearly,” he said.
Plenary speakers for the event include Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School; David Lyle Jeffrey, distinguished professor of literature and the humanities at Baylor University; Peter Leithart, president of the Theopolis Institute; and Carl Trueman, the Paul Woolley Chair of Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.
Fifteen breakout sessions will cover the Reformation’s far-reaching contributions.
“This recovery of the gospel, it did lead to salvation most centrally, but it led to a change in the way politics was done, in the way education and science were done,” Van Neste said. “I want us to see how it affects all of life.”
Registration for REF500 is $65 before Feb. 14 and $90 after that date. The fee covers all meals and conference sessions, and the first 150 registrants will receive a free copy of the book “Echoes of the Reformation: Five Truths that Shape the Christian Life,” by Brandon D. Smith.
Prior to REF500, the Ryan Center will host an all-day festival of preaching on campus March 8. Five preachers will address each of the five “solas” that were the themes of the Reformation – “Scripture Alone,” “Christ Alone,” “Grace Alone,” “Faith Alone” and “To God Alone Be Glory.”
This event, cosponsored by the Tennessee Baptist Convention, begins at 10 a.m. and is free and open to the public.
The five preachers scheduled are Steve Gaines, senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis and president of the Southern Baptist Convention; Fred Shackelford, senior pastor of Ellendale Baptist Church in Bartlett, Tennessee; Justin Wainscott, pastor of First Baptist Church in Jackson, Tennessee; Eric Smith, senior pastor of Sharon Baptist Church in Savannah, Tennessee; and Jim Shaddix, professor of preaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Choral groups from across West Tennessee will provide music for each of the preaching services.
“Preaching comes to new life coming out of the Reformation, and preaching is actually what’s pressing the Reformation,” Van Neste said. “It goes forth because of popular public preaching. So we wanted not just to talk about it, but to do it.”
To bookend the REF500 festival, Union will host a Scripture reading marathon March 6-7 and March 13-14 in which 400 volunteers will read for 10 minutes each under Miller Tower on the Union campus. The reading will begin at 6:30 a.m. each day and go until midnight, and by the end of the fourth day, the entire Bible will have been read.
Van Neste said Union faculty, staff, students, alumni, and other community members are needed as readers. B&H Publishing Group is cosponsoring the marathon and will debut its new Christian Standard Bible at the event.
While other conferences will celebrate the Reformation’s 500th anniversary, Nathan Finn, dean of Union’s School of Theology and Missions, said the events at Union form arguably the most diverse conference of its kind in North America.
“I'm unaware of another conference that is giving so much attention to the variety of ways the Reformation has shaped not just theology and church practice, but western culture itself,” Finn said. “Union is a Christ-centered, comprehensive university that is committed to the liberal arts, the sciences and the professions. The REF 500 Conference is exactly the sort of interdisciplinary event that a university like ours ought to be hosting.”
More information, online registration for REF500, the full schedule for the festival of preaching and a signup page for the Scripture reading marathon are available at www.uu.edu/events/ref500/.
