Yearly Seasons/Colors

The plan of the Christian Year and the Church Calendar meets the need for an orderly outline for Christian teaching and worship. It is part of our Christian heritage, having grown out of centuries of experience and worship.
 
Its roots are found in Old Testament worship, as God’s people commemorated His dealings with Israel by regular observance of special days and seasons. A partial following of the Christian Year is found in practically all denominations in the observance of Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and other special dates. There is a growing tendency toward recognition, of the entire calendar of the church year.

 

The church calendar and the plan of the Christian Year, with its seasonal hymns, Scripture readings, colors and symbols, provide a framework through which the teachings of the church can be given in an orderly and rhythmical manner, instead of being left to individual impulse.
 
During the year, every part of the Christian faith is given due emphasis. Every great event in the life of our Lord is brought to our remembrance, and we experience anew His birth, His ministry and teachings, His death, resurrection and ascension. And during the seasons of Pentecost and Kingdomtide the gospel truths are presented from various angles for our spiritual nourishment and growth.

 

Advent: Includes four Sundays before Christmas and Christmas Eve. The season begins on the Sunday nearest St. Andrew‘s Day, November 30th, and is the beginning of the ecclesiastical year. “Advent” means a coming, a visitation, the coming of our Savior’s birth. This is the first advent. The Second Advent is yet to come. It is during this season that we make preparation for the Nativity. Since it is a time of preparation and penitence the color of purple is used.

Christmastide: This season includes Christmas Day, and one or two Sundays between December 25 and January 6, designated as Sundays after Christmas Day. Since he season of Christmastide is the celebration of the birth of Christ, the color of white is used.

Epiphany: The time frame of this season is four to nine Sundays between January 6, which is Epiphany Day, and the beginning of Lent, which depends upon the date of Easter Day, designated as Sundays after Epiphany Day. This season begins on January 6, in commemoration of the manifestation of our Savior’s birth to the wise men of the East, and continues until Ash Wednesday. The color white is used for Epiphany Day and through one week. Green is used for the remainder of the season to signify the growing Church and the spreading of the gospel.

Shrove Tuesday: the day before Lent begins

Lent: This season  begins six Sundays before Easter day. The fifth Sunday is called Passion Sunday and the sixth Sunday is called Palm Sunday. Lent is the revival season of the church. It is a time of penitence and self-denial, and of intensive cultivation of the life of the spirit. It lasts forty days, corresponding to the forty days’ fast at the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry. It also marks His suffering and death on the cross. The seasonal color is purple. The last two weeks of Lent are called Passiontide. The final week is also called Holy Week

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Image result for Holy Week
  •  Ash Wednesday: On Ash Wednesday ashes are placed on foreheads to remind us of our mortality.  Dust we are and to dust we shall return, but with God’s grace we can be transformed.
  • Palm Sunday: Palm Sunday begins the last week of Lent and commemorates the spreading of palm leaves and cloaks during Jesus’ entrance to Jerusalem.
  • Holy/Maundy Thursday: Maundy Thursday commemerates Jesus’ last meal, the Passover meal, with his disciples and first communion ritual.  The word Maundy comes for the Latin (man datum) which means command.  The command Jesus gave to His disciples was to love one another.
  • Good Friday: Good Friday commemorates the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross at Calvary.

 

Eastertide: This is Easter Day and six other Sundays, of which the last may be called Ascension Sunday. Easter is one of the most holy days  of the Church, celebrating the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus  Christ. The Easter Season runs for fifty days until the Day of  Pentecost.   It is the most joyous  and celebrated season of the Church year. The origin of the English word  Easter may have come from the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess “Eastre“. The color of this season is white  representing the purity and  divinity of our Risen Lord. Flowers, especially lilies, are symbols of Christ’s  resurrection.

Pentecost: This season commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles’ fifty days after the resurrection of Christ. It Related imagebegins with Pentecost Sunday, which is the seventh Sunday after Easter Day and goes from eleven to sixteen Sundays, continuing through the next to last Sunday in August, designated as Sundays after Pentecost. The color of the season is red. Pentecost has a double meaning. It is the anniversary of our Lord’s fulfilled promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is also the birthday of the Christian Church. The season lasts until the last Sunday in August.
 
 
 
 
Kingdomtide: This is the final season of the Christian year and lasts for thirteen or fourteen Sundays beginning the last Sunday in August and continuing until Advent. It begins on the last Sunday in August with the Festival of Christ the King, and continues until Advent. Kingdomtide represents the Kingdom of God on earth and our  social responsibility as members of the Kingdom. This is the growing season of the Church and is a time when the social gospel is preached and the emphasis is given to the principles of the Kingdom of God. The color is green, signifying the advancing Kingdom of God among the peoples  and nations of the world. The symbol for Kingdomtide is a Triangle, signifying  the Trinity (God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).