Tyndale 500: A Celebration of Scripture, Reformation and Mission (by Andy Johnston)

Every now and again, a historical anniversary crops up that is simply too important not to celebrate. Over the course of the last couple of decades, three landmark Reformation dates have been thoroughly worthy of celebration. In 2009, at Together on a Mission, I ran a Calvin seminar track to celebrate the 500th birthday of the great French reformer. I must admit, I thought the seminars would attract a couple of dozen church history nerds but, to my utter amazement, the room was packed for three mornings with hundreds of leaders. For me, one of the highlights was the late Greg Haslam, then Pastor of Westminster Chapel, revealing a pen portrait of Calvin that he had drawn as an 18-year-old student at Durham University. It was stunning.In 2017, King’s Community Church Southampton, the church I lead, hosted a Luther 500 conference to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. It was a wonderful time celebrating the great truths that Luther rediscovered, such as justification by…