On October 22 at 4 pm, various choral and instrumental ensembles will perform “500 Years of Reformation: A Sacred Concert” at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (147 NW 19th Ave., Portland). This concert will include music for organ, brass, bell choirs, choirs, and audience, plus a newly commissioned hymn followed by a festive reception.
“Lutherans are called to be public in their conversation today – which has not always been our way,” said Brauer-Rieke. “What does it mean to be a ‘protestor’ – a ‘Protestant’ today? How do we address current questions involving sanctuary, health care, travel bans, and refugee services? These questions are not necessarily new, but they have taken on a new immediacy in the current political climate. As a reformation church who do we speak for and what do we put at risk? You look back at Luther – there’s a guy who pushed the agenda, and at great personal and societal cost. Lutherans have to ask, “Is this part of our heritage, or just a peculiarity of a history now long gone?”