Zurich, April 1525

On April 12, 1525, Mass was celebrated in Zurich for the last time as the public worship of the established church. In a city shaped by rapid change, this was not merely a shift in ceremony but a decisive turning point. Zurich’s council, urged on by preaching centered on Scripture, moved the city away from the sacrificial language of the altar and toward worship ordered by the Word of God.

The next day, April 13, a new service of the Lord’s Supper was held with simple prayers, clear preaching, and the bread and cup given to the people. The focus was no longer on a repeated sacrifice, but on grateful remembrance and faith in Christ’s completed work.

Huldrych Zwingli and the Zurich Council

Huldrych Zwingli, chief preacher at the Grossmünster, pressed the claims of Scripture upon both conscience and public life. He was not a solitary hero; Zurich’s reforms were carried by pastors, magistrates, and ordinary believers who were willing to bear misunderstanding and conflict. Yet Zwingli’s steady insistence that the church must be corrected by God’s Word helped form the city’s resolve.

This resolve required courage. Changing public worship exposed leaders and citizens alike to political pressure, social division, and spiritual suspicion. Faithfulness was not celebrated by everyone, but it was pursued.

From Altar to Table

The move from Mass to a simpler Lord’s Supper service expressed a theological conviction: Christ’s sacrifice is not repeated but received by faith. “And by that will, we have been sanctified through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). The table, set for the congregation, taught humility and gratitude—Christ gives; His people receive.

The Supper also called believers to public witness: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

A Costly, Encouraging Legacy

Zurich’s 1525 services stand as a summons to courageous, humble faithfulness: to test traditions by Scripture, to worship with reverence rather than display, and to rest in the once-for-all Savior. In every age, the church is strongest when it clings to Christ and lets God’s Word set the pattern.