Having seen many of the important Reformation sites yesterday, today was a relaxing day with gorgeous weather. Being a Sunday, I went to worship at Auditoire de Calvin (Calvin Auditorium).
They are a Presbyterian Church of Scotland English speaking congregation. Although the pastor was away at a Presbytery meeting, the guest pastor was very welcoming. The service was very similar to Presbyterian churches in the U.S. except with no prayer of confession. I didn’t have a chance to ask him about this.
Calvin Auditorium is a small chapel off of the large St. Peter’s Cathedral.
In the mid-1500’s as Protestants were flocking to Geneva as a safe space from the persecution of Catholics (and sometimes even other Protestants), these non-French speaking people needed a place to worship. Calvin opened up this unused chapel in 1556 to establish such a congregation, and it is still an English speaking congregation made up of 30 nationalities to this day. Calvin used this space to hold teaching and prayer gatherings every morning at 7:00 before people went to work.
He held it in this part of the chapel.
Calvin and other church leaders also used this building to study and write. Most notably, they produced a new translation of the Bible, appropriately named “The Geneva Bible.”
John Knox was the pastor of this English speaking church while he was here as a refugee from 1556-1559 before going to Scotland to start the Presbyterian Church there.
Knox learned from Calvin and Geneva (Protestant Rome) and applied what he learned here when he started churches in Scotland.
The stained glass was unique and had a great story behind them. The oranges and red stood for heart and passion indicating that during worship our hearts are rekindled toward God and others.
I also found on my walk down John Calvin Street,
A plaque on a building. It seemed to say that Calvin lived here from 1543 to 1564 (if I correctly read both French words and Latin numerals).
Calvin died on May 27, 1564 at the age of 54. At his request, his grave is unmarked and his funeral was simple. But his legacy lives on even today.
In the afternoon, I couldn’t help but enjoy the gorgeous weather by the lake.
I took advantage of the water taxis to go across the lake
And ended up in Bains des Paquis, a man made small peninsula where people go to sunbathe, talk, relax, and swim.
I walked to the Monument Brunswick, an exact replica of the Schaligeri family tomb from Verona, Italy. It was certainly impressive.
The rest of the day was spent soaking up the gorgeous weather and walking around the lake. I didn’t want to miss worship in the French Speaking St. Peter’s Cathedral and fortunately they had a service at 6:00 pm with a special music group. What a treat! Although I couldn’t understand anything in the service, it was amazing to soak up the acoustics and worship in the place Calvin preached over 2,000 times. I was also blessed by an English speaking Gospel choir who was absolutely outstanding. I don’t often cry when I hear music, but the bass that sang the lead for “You Lift Me Up” was incredible.
The day ended with Luther and Calvin and beer.
Luther and Calvin both have beers named after them. Oh, it’s good to be a Reformer!
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