This week in Christian history: Polish reformer dies, missionary couple martyred in China, Zwingli

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, December 08, 2019

Ulrich Zwingli elected 'people's priest' - December 11, 1518

Protestant Reformer Ulrich Zwingli, (1484-1531). | (Photo: Public Domain)

This week marks the anniversary of when Ulrich Zwingli, considered the founder of Swiss Protestantism, was elected “people’s priest” at the Great Minster (or “Grossmünster”) at Zurich, a prominent Protestant church.

Steven Lawson of Ligonier Ministries wrote in a 2018 piece that Zwingli’s election to the position at Great Minster was “a significant position.”

“Zwingli immediately broke from the normal practice of preaching according to the church calendar. Instead, he announced he would preach sequentially through whole books of the Bible,” wrote Lawson.

“On January 1, 1519, his thirty-fifth birthday, Zwingli began a series of expository sermons through Matthew that were drawn from his exegesis of the Greek text. He continued this consecutive style until he had preached through the entire New Testament.”