The Church Year
The Church Year
The church’s liturgical seasons offer a rhythm for Christian life, each with a symbolic color to reflect mood and meaning. They offer us a way to slow down, mark time and experience the holy in our midst.
Advent, the four weeks leading to Christmas, is a season of waiting and preparing for Jesus’ birth or for Christ’s second coming when justice will prevail throughout the earth. The color blue symbolizes hope. We light 4 candles for the promises of hope, peace, joy, and love.
Christmas is not just one day but 12 days when we celebrate God’s coming to earth. This is one of the most joyous seasons of the year. The color white symbolizes purity and holiness.
Epiphany begins by recalling the magi’s following the star to honor the newborn king born in a stable. The day is celebrated as Christmas through much of the world. The season is one of light as we unwrap the gift received at Christmas to discover just who this Christ child is. The color is white for the Epiphany feast and Christ’s baptism, then green for the season.
Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday, is a time of self-examination as we seek to understand what it means to follow Christ. It is meant to be a time of spiritual growth. The color violet symbolizes repentance- a turning around. We kneel for communion during Lent to represent the penitential sense of the season.
Holy Week captures the immense drama of the Christian story. Palm/Passion Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday lead to the year’s most dramatic liturgy—the Easter Vigil on Saturday eve.
Easter follows, a 50-day season celebrating Christ’s resurrection. The color is white.
The feast of Pentecost marks the coming of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ followers. The color red symbolizes the fire of the Spirit sending us forth to spread God’s love to the ends of the earth.
A long season of Ordinary Time follows, emphasizing growth in faith and service, symbolized by the color green.
Season of Creation – we have begun with much of the worldwide church to celebrate in this ordinary growing time the season of creation remembering that as it says in Colossians: “the hope promised by the gospel has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.”
Holy Days- that do not fall on Sundays
The Feast of the Incarnation: Christmas Eve
December 24th
3:00 p.m. family service
5:00 p.m. Service of Candlelight
10:00 p.m. Service of Candlelight
All with Holy Communion
The Feast of the Incarnation: Christmas Day
December 25 at 10:00 a.m.
The Epiphany of Our Lord– Sunday closest to January
The three magi arrive at the manger
Festival Procession of three kings and their gifts
Blessing of our homes
Ash Wednesday (Holy Communion with Imposition of Ashes), date varies, 12 noon and 6:00 p.m.
Maundy Thursday (Holy Eucharist), date varies, 7:00 p.m.
Foot washing, individual absolution, and Holy Communion
Maundy Thursday
Good Friday
Presentation of J.S. Bach, “St. John Passion” 7:00 p.m.
Walking Stations of the Cross inside 12:00 p.m.
Vigil of Easter
(Vigil and Eucharist), date varies 7:00 p.m.