Celebrate John Calvin as an inspiration not a saint, say Reformed church leaders.

As Reformed churches worldwide celebrated the 500th anniversary of the birth of Protestant Reformation leader John Calvin on July 10, leaders of a global movement of Reformed churches have issued a statement calling on Christians to commemorate Calvin not as a saint but as a source of inspiration for responding to contemporary social and environmental concerns.

In a statement released by leaders of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, which represents 75 million Reformed church members, the alliance’s president and general secretary linked commentaries by the 16th century lawyer and theologian to the current global economic crisis.

In their statement, president Clifton Kirkpatrick and general secretary Setri Nyomi quoted Calvin’s instructions to the church about how to respond to 16th century economic and environmental concerns and noted that these speak to contemporary concerns about the impact of climate change and the market crisis on the world’s poor.

In pointing to the relevance of Calvin’s legacy for today, Kirkpatrick and Nyomi said, “It is our hope that, inspired by this, we who live in the 21st century will also be faithful . . . to doing everything we can to be God’s agents of transformation, making a difference in our communities.”

This story is provided by Worldwide Faith News.