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The Christian Year

The Christian year begins with Advent. As Christians we mark time to a different beat than our secular friends. Below you will find the Christian year listed chronologically from Advent. Additionally you may click HERE for a calendar that lists current and upcoming liturgy of the Revised Common Lectionary and the greater sanctoral cycle (according to the Episcopal Church).

Advent

Advent is sometimes known as a mini-Lent. Those churches whose pastor utilize the Revised Common Lectionary (a three-year cycle of scripture readings for Sunday Worship) will recognize that the readings for Advent are focused upon the return of Christ and not his coming in Bethlehem. Christians use this time to prepare for the second coming of Christ spoken of in Matthew 24:29-31 and 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Advent consists of the four Sundays prior to the beginning of Christmas.

Christmas

Christmas is not a day but a season. The first of the twelve days of the season of Christmas is December 25th. Christmas is a relatively late Christian "holy-day" and there is no evidence the early church considered Christ's birthday a special day. However, since the late Middle-Ages the church has celebrated this season with a twelve day-long period of rejoicing.

Feast of the Holy Innocents

On the fourth day of Christmas we celebrate the martyrdom of the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or younger. Herod ordered them slain in an attempt to kill the infant Jesus. This story is found in Matthew 2:16.

Feast of the Circumcision of Jesus

In accordance with the Levitical law (Leviticus 12:2-3 & Luke 2:21) we celebrate the ritual circumcision of Christ on his eighth day, 1 January.

Epiphany

The Greek root of this word means "reveal" or "shine a light upon" and is used to indicate God's self-revelation in Christ. Celebrated on 6 January Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas season. Specifically we celebrate the coming of the wise men to acknowledge the birth of the King and we celebrate the later baptism of Christ in which his divinity is made plain by the overt presence of all three persons in the Trinity. See Matthew 2:1-12 for the story of the wise men and Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, and Luke 3:21-22 for the baptism of Jesus.

Feast of the Presentation of Jesus

On 2 February we celebrate the presentation of Jesus at the temple. In accordance with Levitical law (see Luke 2:22-40 and Leviticus 12:2-8), Jesus was "unclean" for seven days and Mary was "unclean" for "thirty-three" days. At the end of this waiting period (counting forward from 25 December) we arrive at 2 February.

Feast of the Annunciation

Literally, this means the "announcement" and is the day we celebrate the coming of the angel to "announce" to Mary her pregnancy with Christ. If we count nine months back from 25 December we arrive at the Annunciation, 25 March. See Luke 1:26-28.

Transfiguration Sunday

This is the last Sunday prior to the beginning of Lent. We celebrate the Transfiguration of Christ found in Matthew 17:1-13, Mark 9:2-8, and Luke 9:28-36.

Shrove Tuesday

Although this is not a "holy-day" it is still frequently celebrated by many of our churches. It is the last Tuesday prior to Ash Wednesday and is typically celebrated with pancake feasts to enjoy the last day prior to Lent.

Ash Wednesday

Since the 4th century the church has begun the season of Lent with Ash Wednesday. Worship services usually include the "imposition of ashes" which involves the pastor making the sign of the cross on the foreheads of worshipers. The sign of the cross is made using ashes prepared from the palm fronds from the previous year's Palm Sunday (see below). Ashes are indicative of mourning and our humility before the Almighty.

Lent

Lent consists of the forty days (not counting Sundays) prior to Easter Sunday. This time is the great penitential season where we are invited to more scrupulously examine ourselves in light of the call of God upon our lives and to be intentionally seek to cooperate with God as He roots out areas in our life that are not pleasing to Him. A second purpose for this season is that persons who have broken fellowship with the church may be restored to fellowship (although we welcome persons to return to fellowship at any other time of the year as well). The third reason for this time is for persons desiring to be baptized to make their final preparations before dieing and being resurrected into new-life in Christ (although we will baptize at other times during the year as well).

Maundy Thursday

This is the Thursday before the Easter season begins. "Maundy" comes from the Latin and means "command." On the evening before Christ's death on the cross, Thursday (according to the synoptic gospels), Christ celebrated the Passover with his apostles in an upper room. It was then that he instituted the Lord's Supper, Communion, or the Eucharist. See Matthew 26:26-30, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:14-23 in which Jesus commands "do this in remembrance of me." This is the last time Communion may be celebrated prior to Easter day.

Good Friday

Some have suggested the "good" comes from a corruption of "God." The reason for the use of "good" for Good Friday is lost to us in history. This day is the day the church marks the crucifixion of Christ. Typically, all paraments, crosses, and decorative items are removed, hidden, or covered with black cloth to indicate the death of our Lord. A Tenebrae service is sometimes celebrated on Good Friday. Tenebrae means "darkness" and typically involves extinguishing candles and ending the worship service in darkness.

Easter

Easter is THE high point of the Christian year. This is the day the tomb is found empty and upon which Christ has demonstrated his power over death. Easter, like Christmas, is not a day but is a season. Easter begins on the first Sunday after the first full moon which follows the spring equinox and continues for fifty days. The Great Fifty Days of Easter are symbolic of restoration and redemption as in the Year of Jubilee found in Leviticus 25:8-13. Also, seven is a number that symbolizes completion and seven days of seven would signify the completion of days. Thus the fiftieth day is the beginning of the new set of days. Easter is a period of celebration in our churches, which normally precludes prayers of confession and proclamations of pardon and fasting.

Feast of the Holy Visitation

On 31 May we celebrate the visitation of Mary, mother of Christ, with Elizabeth. See Luke 1:39-56.

The Ascension

On the 40th day of Easter we celebrate Christ's return to glory to sit at the right hand of the Father until he shall come again in glory.

Pentecost

Pentecost marks the end of the Great Fifty Days and the birth of the church as revealed in Acts 2:1-13.

Trinity Sunday

The first Sunday after Pentecost we celebrate the Trinity. We are NOT celebrating the formation or completion of the Trinity as we believe the Trinity has always existed. Rather we are celebrating God's gracious self-revelation.

Feast of the Birth of John the Baptizer

On the third day of 24 June we celebrate the life and martyrdom of the messenger sent to "prepare the way of the Lord." See Luke 1:57-80.

All Saints' Day

A practice in the early church was to gather at the grave of each Christian who had died and celebrate communion together on the day of anniversary date of that Christian's death. We believe that death for Christians is not a transition into nothingness but a passage into the eternal presence of the Almighty for those who are His children in this life. Hence death is a new birth. Of course the calendar rapidly filled with those who have died and so the church developed All Saints' Day for us to celebrate the life and death of Christians who have died.

Christ the King Sunday

On the last Sunday prior to Advent we celebrate the reign of Christ over all creation as indicated in Matthew 28:18.

Fasting is suspended for all Holy Days (often indicated by "Feast of...") except those in Lent. Every Sunday is a Holy Day and precludes fasting.

In Summary (with colors)

Green is used between seasons in "Ordinary" time. Ordinary comes from Latin for "ordinal." This doesn't mean the time is blase but that each of the days after a particular Holy Day are "numbered (e.g. 1st Sunday after Pentecost, etc.).

Sanctoral Cycle

The Sanctoral Cycle (sanctify) refers to the saints whose lives are celebrated throughout the Christian year. Red is the normal color to use at these services. These include the following:
For more information please see
All the Saints: A Calendar of Commemorations for United Methodists
edited by Clifton Guthrie, OSL Publications

United Methodist Church "Special" Sundays

Approved by the General Conference (see the Book of Discipline para. 264)

With Collection of Special Offering for the Entire Church

Human Relations Day - a Sunday in Epiphany
One Great Hour of Sharing - 4th Sunday of Lent
World Communion Sunday - 1st Sunday in October
United Methodist Student Day - Last Sunday in November
Peace With Justice Sunday - 1st Sunday after Pentecost
Native American Ministries Sunday - 3rd Sunday of Easter

Without Collection of Special Offering

Heritage Sunday- Aldersgate Day, May 24th of the Sunday preceding
Laity Sunday - 3rd Sunday of October
Organ and Tissue Donar Sunday- 2nd Sunday in November
Men's Ministry Sunday - Any Sunday chosen by the local church

With Collection of Special Offering for the Work in the Virginia Annual Conference

Virginia Annual Conference Specific with offering
see the Conference Book of Reports)

  • Heart Haven's Month - February
  • UM Family Services - Throughout December
  • Va. Homes - Throughout the period between Mother's Day and Father's Day
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