TAKING AN OVERVIEW
This is a good time to pause in the process of worship planning and step back to make an overview of the year ahead. Actually, doing this during the summer months, especially in August, is a very helpful thing to build into the calendar for each year.
Planning long range in the worship life of a congregation gives us an opportunity to think more carefully about the themes and patterns of our worship life, assures us of a greater balance, and provides better preparation time for all that are involved, both pastor and musicians.
Our goal this week is to identify the issues in planning for the year ahead, possible choices, and to show you the direction that we will be taking.
WHICH CALENDAR?
The first choice we face is the choice of calendar. What considerations will guide the pattern of worship during the coming months? Which events will be included in worship? And how will the themes of worship and preaching be selected? In other words, which calendar will be our guide?
Our conviction and assumption is that to plan ahead without an intentional selection of a calendar, or to go ahead without planning, will produce worship and preaching that has little direction and misses major opportunities to proclaim the full gospel of Christ.
However, there are a number of potential calendars from which we can make our choices. Let's try to identify some of them. You will probably think of others.
1. The catechism/confessional calendar - if the pastor is preaching through the Catechism or one of the other Confessions, you may be inclined to structure the church year of worship around the themes/events that are currently being covered.
2. The secular calendar - many events on the secular calendar of our society will seem to call for attention in worship, and you'll discover that some churches follow it. Hallmark tells us that Valentines' Day, Mother's Day and Father's Day are big events. Our civic calendar tempts us to plan worship around Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day.
3. The church program season calendar - September through April/May is the season in which the largest number of church ministry events take place, with a major break for the "holidays". Worship planning can easily be determined by the rhythm of eight or nine full months, and three or four lean months. Within this calendar you will also find those "special Sundays" that each denomination likes to designate for specific ministries.
4. The Christian Year calendar - in this calendar the entire year is geared toward the remembrance of the main salvation events in the work of God. Salvation events rank much higher than local and secular events. We highly recommend this calendar and will be saying more about it.
THE CHRISTIAN YEAR CALENDAR
We are creatures of time. All our living is in the context of and governed by time. Sometimes time makes us remember as we treasure the past; other times we anticipate as we look forward to the future. As Christians we know that time is linear - it has a beginning and an end. We also know that it is made up of progressive events along the way. All of Scriptural history is built around remembrances and anticipations.
Worship needs to take this into account. God's events in the time of history should form the pattern of our worship life over the course of a year. So which calendar we select as our guide has large implications.
Selecting the Christian Year calendar to guide our worship life and planning will provide several very precious benefits:
1. Our worship will be anchored in the events of salvation history: the coming of Christ, the ministry of Christ, the suffering and death of Christ, the resurrection and exaltation of Christ, and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
2. The Christian Year will help us understand the Christian life. Each season has its own mood and spirit and they can be quite different from one another. We anticipate Christ's arrival. We are united with him in his suffering, death, and resurrection. We continue to receive new life from the Spirit. Each of these events provides a variety of themes, from anticipation, to penitence, to joy, to a challenge to growth.
3. The Christian Year provides a framework for the celebration of the gospel message. As such it becomes a careful safeguard for the church so that its message remains clearly Christ-centered. Each year the major events of God's redemptive history are celebrated and exhibit their formative influence over our worship life.
It is certainly true that Scripture does not prescribe the observance of the Christian Year, and in the past Christians of many traditions moved away from it because they were afraid that it would become an end in itself and reflect too much of medieval catholicism. But in recent years, many protestant churches have recovered the Christian Year and find it to be a valuable framework for organizing their worship life.
For the reasons stated above, we highly recommend it. You will find that the worship services provided here in the months ahead reflect the calendar of the Christian Year. A few other carefully selected events will be fit in along the way, but the rhythm of the year will be established by the Christian calendar. Once you do, you will find that it has the basic pattern of the Apostles' Creed.
THE PATTERN OF THE CHRISTIAN YEAR
There are many variations in the way in which churches and denominations structure the Christian Year. But generally it follows this pattern:
Advent - The Christian Year begins with Advent. This season includes the four Sundays preceding Christmas. Advent means "coming", and the weeks of Advent focus on the church's anticipation of the birth of the Messiah, as well as the future coming of Christ. In popular thinking Christmas is often enfolded into Advent, but we encourage you to avoid the temptation to treat all of Advent as though it were Christmas. Advent needs messages and music that focuses on anticipation and waiting.
Epiphany - The word "epiphany" means "manifestation" and comes from the purpose of Christ to manifest or reveal the glory of God. The origins and details of Epiphany are less clear, but it usually begins on or about January 6 and considers the visit of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus, his first miracle, and his transfiguration.
Lent - Perhaps the best known of the seasons of the Christian Year is Lent. It is a period of preparation before Easter, and originally signified a period of preparation for baptism on Easter. Generally this time of preparation is associated with the number forty - after Moses' forty years preparing for his ministry, the forty years of Israel in the wilderness, and the forty days of Jesus in the wilderness. The forty days of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, excludes Sundays, and concludes with Holy Week in which the suffering and death of Christ are central. The spirit of Lent is penitential and devotional.
Holy Week - Though not a separate "season" of the Christian Year, Holy Week is the most significant time for all Christians. During this week worshipers prepare to mark the journey of Christ to Calvary with additional times of worship and reflection. Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday are its highlights.
Eastertide - The Easter season stands out as a time of celebration and joy. This season is fifty days in length leading from Easter (Resurrection) Sunday to Pentecost Sunday. The worship of this season calls attention to the resurrection of Christ, his post-resurrection appearances, his ascension into heaven, and the preparation of his disciples to witness to his kingdom.
Pentecost - Pentecost is both a day and a season. The Day of Pentecost, 50 days after Easter, marks the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the church. The season of Pentecost is the longest season of the entire Christian Year, stretching out until Advent begins again. Its emphasis is on the work of the Holy Spirit to give power and growth to the church so that the kingdom of God can be built. This season historically concludes with "Christ the King Sunday" which is the last Sunday before the beginning of Advent.
When all of these seasons are put together as a whole, we see that the Christian Year begins with Advent, and continues through the whole ministry of Christ and the Spirit until the next Advent!
Western Holy Days in 2010
The Season of Christmas ends on 5 January 2010
The Epiphany and the Season after the Epiphany 6 January through 16 February
The Epiphany is 6 January
(Epiphany Sunday is 3 January)
The Baptism of Our Lord is 10 January
Transfiguration Sunday is 14 February
The Season of Lent 17 February through 3 April
Ash Wednesday is 17 February
Holy Week
Palm Sunday (Passion Sunday) is 28 March
Maundy Thursday is 1 April
Good Friday is 2 April
Holy Saturday is 3 April
The Season of Easter 4 April through 23 May
Easter Day is 4 April
Ascension Day is Thursday, 13 May
Pentecost is 23 May
The Season After Pentecost 24 May through 27 November
Trinity Sunday is 30 May
All Saints Day is 1 November
Christ the King Sunday is 21 November
The Season of Advent 28 November through 24 December
The First Sunday in Advent is 28 November
The Season of Christmas 25 December through 5 January 2011
Christmas Day is 25 December
Holy Name is 1 January 2011
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