Hubby's Unusual 40th B-day Party

On October 31 in modern day we travel door-to-door dressed in costumes asking for candy.  Few know of the historical significance of the day.  Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenburg, Germany on October 31, 1517 thus dividing the church into catholics and protestants.  For years my man has been talking about wanting to throw a reformation party.   He turned 40 today so this year we made his birthday a dream-come-true reformation party.  He dressed as Martin Luther and I as his bride, Katie, a former nun.

A month ago, I asked his mom to write an invitation poem.

Many years ago in Germany
Martin Luther bent his knee
To the Pope for one last time
He nailed his theses to the door
and vowed that he would have no more 
Of giving them his last and only dime

So come and help us celebrate
As now we do commemorate
The Great and Happy Reformation Day
Oh, but, you say, “It’s Halloween”
And you were hoping to be seen
Dressed like Frodo or ritzy queen
You may choose, but evil will loose
If costumes look rather mean

Put Luther aside and his Katie bride
Another reason brings us joy
 40 years past, at long last
John’s mother had a boy
So party on
With her first son
We’ll have a diet of Worrms
And have some derision
At Luther’s decision
To forsake the celibate
And chose to celebrate
  --- Pam Majors, mother of John

 As guests arrived, John, I mean Martin, handed out a trivia game meant to help people get to know each other.  Each sheet had one question filled in.  People were encouraged to talk to one another and figure out the answers to the game.  He also signed them up in a bracket for another game later in the evening.

Below is Keith Lynch (radio engineer for FamilyLife Today) who came as St. Ignoramus, the patron saint of burlap.  Hi.Lar.ious.  Caroline couldn't stop talking about the owl.

Our kids were so excited about daddy's birthday party.  However, Schaeffer didn't really know what to think of us in costume.  He liked to chew on my cross.  (The stinker, after I wrote that he was sleeping better, had a wretched week last week.)

The Games
What birthday party is complete without games?  Because Hubby is a teacher at heart, he wanted his friends to have fun learning reformation history.  Below is a sampling of some of the fun.

Guess the Nuns in the Barrel - try to guess how many M&M are in the jar.  Luther smuggled 12 nuns out of a convent in herring delivery barrels then matched the women to his monk friends.  The last woman remaining ended up his bride.

Burn the Papal Bull -

We made paper airplanes out of paper bulls and threw them into a fire pit.

Diet of Worms - Luther was tried (diet = formal deliberative assembly) at Worms, Germany as a heretic.  The worms for the party were of the gummi variety.

Instead of singing "Happy Birthday" we sang a hymn Luther wrote - A Mighty Fortress is Our God.

Below a friend writes his score on the board for "The Tetzel Toss."  Johann Tetzel sold indulgences during Luther's time and was famous for saying, "When a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs."  Many of Luther's 95 theses speak against these indulgences.  (While planning for the party, I made this connection.)

The game was simply tossing a coin into a metal cup in as few tries as possible.  The guy below did it on his first try!

The best part of the party is when the pope made his surprise arrival. 

We asked Paul Bing, a neighbor and devoted Catholic, to grill the brats for us (German themed food!). Hubby told him beforehand that the party was not about bashing Catholics but celebrating the Reformation and his birthday.

Anyway, just after dessert, Paul comes out of the bathroom dressed as the Pope with his edict against Martin Luther. It was a riot! Above Hubby stands with Luther's 95 theses & the Pope with his response. The 95 theses "game" was played kind of like pin the tail on the donkey.

It was a super fun evening.  Many friends came and blessed my husband by participating in his games.  Happy 40th, hon.  Here's to the next 40!