Places, Times, and People in Worship in Calvinʼs Geneva

Amid the many theological developments of the Protestant Reformation the practical implementations of changes in worship sometimes are forgotten. This essay examines where and when Genevans worshiped, clarifying recent arguments about times and frequency of services as well as how places, their state of repair, and the arrival of many refugees contributed to the material organization of worship. It is shown that the 1541 Ecclesiastical Ordinances are a generally reliable guide to days and numbers of services, but these should be supplemented by data about personnel and hours of worship drawn from baptismal and marriage registers and civil records.