Presidential Reformation Tour 2017 

In March, 2017, President Michael LeRoy of Calvin College and President Jul Medenblik of Calvin Theological Seminary jointly hosted a Reformation Tour of Germany and Switzerland, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. This group photo was taken in Worms where Martin Luther appeared before the Diet of Worms in 1521 and refused to recant his writing when faced with charges of heresy. “I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.”

The tour ended in Geneva where guest lecturer Dr. Karin Maag (right), gave historical and theological perspectives on such topics as education, worship, and church discipline. This photo is taken in a classroom at the University of Geneva, founded by John Calvin in 1559. The night before, Dr. Lyle Bierma, the other guest lecturer, introduced the group to the John Calvin, noting that he was a second-generation reformer (25 years younger than Luther) who had studied law, not theology and was a self-taught theologian never formally ordained to ministry.