(Cazenovia, NY – Oct. 2015) On Sunday Oct. 25 The First Presbyterian Church in Cazenovia will celebrate Reformation Sunday. Jack Heims will play the bagpipes and plaid tartan ribbons will be handed out in honor of the church’s Scottish heritage. Morning worship begins at 10 a.m. The Rev. Gerry Platz will deliver a special message.
The Senior Choir will sing and the Sounds of Chimes will perform.
A fully-equipped and staffed nursery is available for infants and toddlers. School-aged children are dismissed to a special Sunday School mid-way through the service.
Rev. Platz is Pastor Emeritus at Stone Presbyterian Church in Clinton. He retired in 2003 after spending 11 years as an Interim Specialist in several congregations in New Jersey and New York.
Piper Jack Heims started piping at the age of 15. He played with all the bands in the Central New York area, until he formed his own Pipe Band in 2003, called the City of Syracuse Highland Pipes and Drums. The Highlanders perform at parades, sporting Events, “music in the parks,” and fundraisers for various events. During the weekends you will find Jack performing at various weddings, funerals or parties in and around the Central New York area. If he’s not performing in a church, you might just find him playing the pipes at Lafayette Apple Festival, Skaneateles Dickens Days, 9/11 Ceremonies all across Central New York, Relays for Life, Shamrock Run/Walk, Paige’s Butterfly Run/Walk, Bikers for cancer and many more.
When Piper Jack isn’t playing his bagpipes, you can find him earning a living teaching technology classes at Paul V. Moore High School in Central Square. He is a veteran teacher of almost 30 years.
Following the morning worship service there will be a pancake brunch with all the trimmings: sausage, scrambled eggs, special breakfast cakes, fruit salad and assorted beverages . The breakfast is free and open to the public.
The Presbyterian Church celebrates Reformation Sunday on the last Sunday of October, commemorating a significant event in the history of the Reformed tradition. It was on Oct. 31, 1517, that Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Martin Luther was protesting against the corruption of the Church in Rome and the great abuses attending the sale of indulgences. Luther, a German priest and professor, is credited with starting the movement known as the Protestant Reformation.
Some 20 years later, a French/Swiss theologian, John Calvin further refined the reformers’ new way of thinking about the nature of God and God’s relationship with humanity in what came to be known as Reformed Theology. This theology proved to be the driving force of the Reformation, particularly in Germany, France, the Netherlands, England, and Scotland.
John Knox, a Scotsman who studied with Calvin in Geneva, took Calvin’s teachings back to Scotland. The Presbyterian Church traces its ancestry back primarily to Knox in Scotland and to England. The First Presbyterian Church is Cazenovia was started in 1799.
For more information contact the church at 655-3191 or www.cazpres.org.