I'm a member of a church that locates itself within the Reformed tradition. We belong to a lineage of protesters and activists. The early Protest-ants in Europe spoke forcefully against what they understood to be abuses of the Roman Catholic Church. Powerful religio-political interests were abusing their medieval authority in order to fill the coffers of kings and bishops alike by "selling" forgiveness in the form of indulgences, which were Pope-approved remissions of the due punishment in purgatory that remained even after receiving absolution. One could purchase an indulgence for one's self, a loved one, or even someone already deceased and in purgatory. Needless to say, in a time of such uncritical acceptance of the Church's teaching and unquestioned loyalty to the Church's prerogative, the sale of indulgences was an easy way to rob the masses. It was primarily in response to the sale of indulgences that Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Wittenburg Church. He was attempting to reform the practices of Catholicism, but was instead excommunicated from the Church he so loved. Other magisterial reformers like Philipp Melanchthon, John Calvin, John Knox, John Wycliffe, and Ulrich Zwingli, as well as those who belonged to the radical reformation like Sebastian Franck, Menno Simons, and John of Leiden sought to re-form or re-imagine the Church in response to issues related to worship, matters of church and state relations, doctrine, and various abuses of power. These men, along with many women like Katharina von Bora (a nun who married Martin Luther), Elisabeth Cruciger, Elisabether von Brandenburg, Walpurga Bugenhagen, and countless nameless others, actively opposed the religious abuses of their day.

(It is important to note here that the Protestant Reformation certainly had its own troubles and abuses of power. Michael Servetus, for instance, was a participant in the Reformation but after developing a non-trinitarian Christology was burned at the stake in Geneva by order of a Protestant governing council and in cooperation with John Calvin. Indeed, the Reformation, like all historical religious movements, was a reflection of the flaws of the human heart as much as it was an attempt to rise to that same heart's highest ideals.)

What is unfortunate is that many denominations are content to describe themselves as Reformed in the past tense, as if all of the re-creative work has been done and nothing is left to re-form. It is common for churches, as well as individual Christians, to define their present identity exclusively in terms of past experiences. The many churches whose ancestors risked their lives in challenging the status quo often become perpetuators of the same, defending socio-religious constructions of "normal" for the sake of superficial forms of solidarity, respect of custom, or even commitment to a particular accepted interpretation of creed or scripture. Within this context, they may promote a willingness to change certain fashions - accepting state-of-the-art technology, adapting to new musical tastes or preferences, or updating religious jargon to include changes in modern vocabulary and usage. But these general shifts with the times are hardly tributes to an activist religious tradition which seeks to read theological texts subversively, to engage culture critically, to speak truth to privileged interests, and to give voice to those marginalized by imprudent devotion to established practices.

A church that is Reforming, rather than Reformed, will not only define itself by what it is against (Protest-ant) but will also actively dedicate itself to what it is for. The Church for far too long has been known only as an antagonistic organization rather than as a fiercely reconciling and redeeming organism. Have you ever seen the way a tree will grow around barbed-wire? It overcomes the barrier, incorporates the danger, transcends and includes the restraint and makes the barbs its own. This is what a Reforming religion does. It continues to grow, to expand, to mature beyond any obstacle. Rather than remaining static, or retreating to a safer, more familiar state, it continually transforms (re-forms) itself and everything it contacts. What if the Church became know for - in deed as well as in word - the promotion of human rights, just economic standards, equitable treatment of marginalized people, peace, scientific discovery, a moral standard that begins and ends with the Golden Rule, and a theological standard which reflects the essence of the same?

Neither Reformed churches who retreat into ritualism nor those churches who proudly abandon tradition as if it were the plague succeed in honoring our shared story and the Gospel of the Kingdom. A Re-forming Church will humbly embrace its own history and traditions and will also critically advance into the future with passion and enthusiasm, always seeking first the ways in which the Kingdom of God is re-creating earthly empires, including the empires of Religion.