Here are a few Reformation-related resources worth exploring, in case you need a break from sewing your kids’ Philip Melancthon Halloween costumes:

• Have you ever read the actual 95 theses that Martin Luther nailed to the Wittenberg church door in 1517? It’s worth doing so—not all of them are easily understood today, and many of them reference very specific teachings and practices of Luther’s time. But it’s always an interesting exercise to ask yourself: what “theses” might a modern-day reformer nail to the door of your church?
• The Christian History Institute website has an excellent array of lessons about the Reformation, covering the major personalities, ideas, and events that defined the movement. These lessons, which include primary documents written by the movers and shakers of the era, would make good material for a small group study or discussion.
• One of the most famous Christian hymns to emerge from the Reformation is “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” penned by Martin Luther himself. Is this one in your church’s hymnal?
• Although the King James translation of the Bible is the best-known Bible of the time period, the Geneva Bible that predates it was tremendously significant in spreading the ideas of the Protestant Reformation. Its ties to Calvinism and the Puritan movement made it both theologically and politically contentious.
• Our friends at the Koinonia blog are running a Reformation Week ebook sale this week. Take a look, and consider brushing up on your knowledge of the Reformation!
• It’s less famous than the Protestant Reformation, but the Catholic Counter-Reformation was an important response by the Roman Catholic church to the assortment of issues and challenges raised by the Protestant movement.