Guildford, known as a hotbed of religious dissent after the Reformation, celebrated the 500th anniversary at the end of October at an event in the Guildhall titled ‘The Reformation – the revolution that changed the world’.
It was organised by Life Matters, a group consisting of church members from across Guildford who organise lunchtime events for those enquiring about the gospel.
Exhibition
The celebration began with an exhibition of display panels detailing the Reformation in Europe and the events in England which led to the country becoming a Protestant nation. One panel dealt specifically with the translation of the Bible, as local man George Abbot was one of the team who gave us the King James Version: he later became Archbishop of Canterbury. Other panels dealt with the effects on society, education, business, politics, science, art and music. Although no-one from Guildford was martyred, there is evidence suggesting that the congregation now meeting as Chertsey Street Baptist Church goes back to the end of the 16th century.
Lectures, lunchtime and evening
Along with the exhibition, a programme of talks, held across several days, explained the message of the reformers. David Skull showed how the Bible was the authority for Martin Luther’s ‘revolution’, followed by John and Ann Benton’s unique retelling of the story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation with musical interludes in under an hour (The Bible In One Bite). On the Reformation day itself (31 October), Hugh Griffin from Chertsey Street Baptist Church explained clearly and simply Luther’s message of salvation by grace alone.
Peter Saunders from the Christian Medical Fellowship showed how many Christians had been involved in key developments in medicine, and in the evening Richard Simpkin, from St Helen’s Bishopsgate, talked through the changes in choral worship that were brought about by the importance given to hearing the Word, rather than revelling in the music. John Benton explained how the Reformation facilitated the development of the scientific method and modern science.
Finally, Ursula Weekes, an art historian from Emmanuel Church Wimbledon, gave a fascinating insight into the changes in art brought about by the Reformation.
During the week, members of the Life Matters team gave out leaflets in the High Street to shoppers, finding that many had already heard programmes on the radio or television about the Reformation and were interested in the local links.
The exhibition and talks confirmed the importance of Christian heritage in shaping many aspects of our country, facts that are in danger of being forgotten by today’s media.
