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Calvin09 Patronage Committee gives positive evaluation of Calvin Jubilee yearCelebrations in 2009 of the 500th anniversary of the birth of the Protestant reformer, John Calvin, were a resounding success according to an assessment by the international committee which coordinated Calvin09 Jubilee activities.
“The results exceeded our expectations,” the head of the International Patronage Committee, Clifton Kirkpatrick, reports.
Branded by an attention-grabbing logo and website, the Calvin09 Jubilee year attracted worldwide attention and drew a far higher level of interest from the general public than expected.
Kirkpatrick, who serves as President of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, says many American members of the Reformed church movement noted striking similarities between current political priorities in the United States and Calvin’s social agenda: immigration, health care, and economic justice.
The economic and financial crisis also helped spread the church reformer’s ideas about economic and social ethics which emphasize regulating capital growth for the benefit of all notes Thomas Wipf of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches.
There was great interest in the historical and social context of the 16th century Reformer who lived a more passionate and dramatic life than that projected by his reputation as a stiff and uncompromising autocrat. Situating the man in his time was helpful in shedding light on some of his controversial decisions. The lack of freedom of conscience in his era, for example, better explains – though does not justify - Calvin’s attitude toward Michel Servet whom he allowed to be burned at the stake for heresy.
Jérôme Cottin of the University of Strasbourg in France, notes that discussions centred on Calvin as a person and not on his reputation for austerity and severity. Emidio Campi of Switzerland’s University of Zurich adds that the “pastoral Calvin” came into focus through the thousands of letters he wrote. Those letters, says German academic Michael Weinrich, reveal Calvin’s “humanity and sensitivity”.
The ecumenical movement owes Calvin a great deal says Weinrich. In Switzerland, his commitment to unifying Reformed churches from the French and German speaking regions of the 2 country ensured that there are not two separate Swiss Reformed church denominations today. At the world level, the Calvin09 Jubilee gave added momentum to the planned merger of two branches of the Reformed family of churches. In June 2010 at the Uniting General Council, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Reformed Ecumenical Council will unite to form the World Communion of Reformed Churches in what the founding organisations call a response to Calvin’s vision of church unity.
“This year has both re-connected Reformed Christians to their roots and to each other,” Kirkpatrick declares. “The focus on Calvin has led many Reformed Christians to a new appreciation of their heritage and their connections with one another. We no longer felt the need to apologize for Calvin but rather found much in his thoughts, his actions and his legacy that is truly life-giving for our time.”
The Jubilee showed Calvin’s impact beyond Europe has resulted in churches which reflect a wide variety of cultures and languages. From China to Argentina, from Cuba to South Africa as well as in Japan, Italy and Poland, special events and publications marked the worldwide diffusion of Calvin’s writing and ideas.
In Geneva itself, local authorities and the general public acknowledged Calvin’s impact on the city’s cultural and social development, an influence which in recent years had been treated discreetly, even as somewhat tabou.
Roland Benz, responsible for Jubilee projects organized by the Protestant Church of Geneva, affirms: “Something happened during this year, in the media as well as among the public, which went beyond church circles. The caricature of Calvin was challenged and even modified.”
In France, interest in Calvin the humanist and the man of culture surprised organisers. In particular, his role in the development of the modern French language and his talent as a writer were discovered, says Cottin.
People flocked to the many events offered in France, Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland: tens of thousands of visitors attended numerous exhibitions, plays and film screenings and more than one hundred books were published.
“The Calvin09 year succeeded in bringing Reformed parishes closer to their Reformer,” says Achim Detmers, responsible for Jubilee activities in Germany.
Effective use of communication (internet, games, interactive exhibits, films, theatre, music) as well as the creation of special products such as wine and chocolate, certainly provided a lighter more inviting approach to the general public.
Plans by the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches), the Reformed churches of Germany and others are now underway to redevelop the Jubilee internet site www.calvin09.org as a global web portal for news and research into the ideas, life, writing and impact of John Calvin.
“Our deepest hope is that the Calvin09 Jubilee will be just the beginning of a new appreciation and rediscovery of the legacy of Calvin which has the potential to renew our churches and our world as we move into the future,” says Kirkpatrick. “We have laid a solid foundation during this 3 Jubilee year and can look forward to making a fresh contribution to broader ecumenical discussions.”
Churches from the Reformed tradition will have these new insights to draw on as they embark on the Decade of the Reformation which will culminate in celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation in 2017.
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