Monday, November 2, 2026

It is the 2nd of November 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

A very happy Monday to you, with apologies to fans of those Buckeyes of Ohio State… got a great question from Russ in Warsaw, Indiana- that’s the orthopedic capital of the world! Also, right in between South Bend and Fort Wayne- I hadn’t looked into Indiana geography lately to see how close those cities are… apropos of nothing.

 

Russ asked a question in light of the celebration of Reformation Sunday last week- Reformation Day being Halloween and all that- some fun questions: what would the Reformers dress up as? Favorite candies? I couldn’t think up too many clever answers for those questions- I already played the 95 Reeses card… Luther could go as Thor… they both have legendary hammers? Zwingli might dress up as a vampire- I could see him trying to explain to frightened children that it’s not “actually” blood…

 

Alright… Russ asked about a hypothetical time machine- asking what might surprise us the most if we were to get into a time machine and go back in time to the Reformation to attend a service. I like this question for a lot of reasons- one is that with some historical eras- especially those we might identify with- it is easy to make them overfamiliar- to see them as so similar to ourselves we miss some of the really important distinctions.

 

So- what would it look like if you got in the Delorean, cranked it up to 88 mph, and had the Flux Capacitor shoot you back to, say… 1550? Well- where do you end up? Let’s take both Wittenberg for the Lutherans and Geneva for the Reformed.

 

The first thing you’d notice is that there would be no question as to what church you’d attend. And you likely wouldn’t travel very far- the church was the center of the town. And, it’s not like you were just going there on Sunday… IN the late medieval and early modern world, the church was the center of society- it had sacred and secular roles.

 

I should also note that it would smell worse and be a lot dirtier than you think (this always gets me with historical films- the past was dirty!). And perhaps this would also make the sanctuary stand out as an especially clean place- and if you were in Wittenberg you’d probably smell incense. In fact, for the average Western Protestant Christian going to a Lutheran church 500 years ago, you would certainly come away thinking “man, that was really catholic!” And if you went to Geneva you’d probably come away thinking “what are they, Quakers?” As the service would be very much stripped down- no instruments- a lot of reading and listening.

 

There’s always the historical issue of seating- I’ve been trying to run down this issue for a while- rarely do we get people talking about seating situations in church because, however they do it, they likely assume most people do as well. Yes, pews are a modern invention. That doesn’t mean seating is. Think of the book of James- we’re told not to give the better seats in church to the richer folks. And we do get instruction about standing or kneeling- so we can assume a middle position of sitting. BUT, most would stand. AND, it would be divided by gender. The women and children might get a place up front, perhaps seated on one side, and the men would congregate together. How they stood or sat would vary- that they would be split by gender would likely be the same.

 

How long would it be? Well, the service would be an hour or two- in Wittenberg you would definitely have the Lord’s Supper. In Geneva you probably wouldn’t- they celebrated quarterly- 4 times a year. But the day doesn’t end at the dismissal from service. You would likely eat together, maybe play games (yes, even in Geneva it was ok to play on Sunday so long as it was after church). You would also have some kind of class- “church” was an all-day event. X At my church it’s as if by noon you are dismissed and to ask anyone for anything after that is almost heresy!

 

Russ, and others… here’s the fun part about this exercise- even in the church where your tradition comes from- you would feel very out of place. The word would be preached- songs would be sung- certain words (where you have a translator) would be the same- but the differences would be stark- and that’s helpful to remember when we idealize, or idolize, one particular time in church history. The wide variety of how Christians have worshipped should give us pause whenever we start insisting something ‘has to be done a certain way’.

 

Send me your questions at Danv@1517.org.

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and a small benediction from Thessalonians:

13 And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 2nd of November 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who wonders if being between South Bend and Fort Wayne makes someone an Anglican… he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by someone who wants you to know that South Bend is super Catholic, Fort Wayne is hardcore Lutheran, and so on… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.