Illustration: John Wycliffe statue detail, Worms, Germany
Learning from the spirituality of the Reformation
As a part of my pastoral sabbatical this summer, I attended a conference at the Anglican Church’s Wycliffe College in Toronto on the provocative subject “Reviving the Church: Learning from the Spirituality of the Reformation.” It was sponsored by the Reformed House of Studies, an affiliate ministry linked with Wycliffe to train pastors and leaders to serve in confessional and orthodox Reformed and Presbyterian congregations.
“Revival” is an ambiguous term that can elicit both excitement and cynicism. Dr. Lyndon Jost, Director of the Reformed House of Studies, framed it like this:
There are those who will expect revival to set us free to be ordinary — to live fully human lives, free from slavery to sin, free to love the Lord our God with all that we have, and to love our neighbours as ourselves” – Lyndon Jost
“There seem to be two ways of understanding what revival is to look like. On the one side, some will expect revival to set us free from the ordinary — with the advent of signs and wonders, elevating us above the normal human experience. On the other, there are those who will expect revival to set us free to be ordinary — to live fully human lives, free from slavery to sin, free to love the Lord our God with all that we have, and to love our neighbours as ourselves. The latter is the true test of revival. A good tree is known by its fruitfulness, being simply what it was made to be (Matt 7). The supernatural happens only and always to serve and to restore the natural — to heal what’s been broken in nature.
“And how is God at work restoring us to full humanity, healing what’s been broken — reviving His Church? Chiefly through the ordinary “means of grace” — the ministry of word and sacrament in the context of the bodily presence of Christ in the world, the Church.”
In a day when so many are looking for novel programs and strategies for reviving the church, we have perhaps neglected the spiritual legacies that have shaped the church and its witness over many centuries.” – Stephen Andrews
Wycliffe’s outgoing Principal Bishop Stephen Andrews opened the conference with these words: “In a day when so many are looking for novel programs and strategies for reviving the church, we have perhaps neglected the spiritual legacies that have shaped the church and its witness over many centuries.” It was to these spiritual legacies that the main speakers directed us.
Dr. Micheal Haykin explored the spiritual legacy of Hugh Latimer, the Anglican churchman whose ministry was marked by great confidence in the Word and great suffering. Suffering, it turns out, is a central characteristic of a lived Christian spirituality.
Dr. Chad Van Dixhoorn reflected on the spirituality taught in the Westminster Confession of Faith and catechisms, arguing that it is a wrong to understand traditional Reformed theology as being uninterested in a spirituality of a loving union with God. Van Dixhoorn persuasively argued that the Westminster divines communicate a strong vision for a loving communion with the God who is love.
Wycliffe’s new Principal Dr. Kristen Deede Johnson reflected on the growing interest in “spiritual formation” among Western evangelical churches, including writers such as Dallas Willard. Many think of the spiritual life as that which we accomplish by our own work (as “spiritual disciplines”). She argues that a richer, better way to think about spiritual formation is to ground it firmly in the work Christ is doing in us through his own appointed means of word and sacrament.
There was an indescribable energy at the gathering, with a sense of hope and confidence in God’s power to revive and grow the church in our day.” – Kevin Livingston
Rev. Dr. Irwyn Ince highlighted the relationship between Reformation spirituality and ethics. In conversation with the Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck, he argued that life in the Spirit will —indeed must! — move us toward love for our neighbour, expressed in acts of justice and mercy.
Each lecture was informative and inspiring, and I commend them to you. They are available on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcBgko2jpeK-8KYutmkO-tnGT-OneBGae
It was deeply heartening to see more than 120 attendees at the conference, most of whom were young adults. They came mostly from congregations affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America, the Canadian Reformed Church and other conservative, confessional Reformed bodies. The attendees I spoke with exhibited a deep passion for the gospel. Many theological students were anticipating being part of “church plants” and establishing new congregations. There was an indescribable energy at the gathering, with a sense of hope and confidence in God’s power to revive and grow the church in our day.
This conference gave me hope that God will revive and renew us as individuals and as congregations when we put first things first, devoting ourselves wholeheartedly to Christ. . .” – Kevin Livingston
It made me wistful and sad for our own Presbyterian Church in Canada. As a denomination, we lack clarity about the meaning of the gospel, and we have lost our passion to share it urgently with those around us. We are a rapidly aging and declining institution.
Can God revive us? I don’t know. But this conference gave me hope that God will revive and renew us as individuals and as congregations when we put first things first, devoting ourselves wholeheartedly to Christ by sharing together in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer (Acts 2:42). Lord, have mercy upon us!
