Preparing Your Church for the Christian Calendar

As a Christian, it’s highly likely that you celebrate the holidays of Christmas and Easter. And here in the United States, many “cultural Christians” also celebrate these “holidays”. Unfortunately, many Christians know little about the full liturgical calendar (also known as the Christian calendar) which divides the year into a cycle of seasons and days based on the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

The Christian or liturgical calendar has often been thought of as a primarily Catholic tradition. However, many Protestant denominations observe it in their churches today. So what is the Christian calendar (or year)?

The Christian calendar is the annual cycle of seasons and days observed in Christian churches in commemoration of the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Preparing for, presenting, and celebrating the Christian calendar can be a deeply meaningful way for a church to engage its congregation in the rhythms of faith and the life of Christ. Below is a guide for how a church can approach this throughout the year:

1. The Christian calendar

• The Christian year is divided into seasons, each focusing on different aspects of the life of Christ. Here are those key seasons:
• Advent (Preparation for the coming of Christ’s birth)
• Christmas (Celebrating Christ’s birth)
• Epiphany (Manifestation of Christ to Gentiles)
• Lent (Reflection and repentance leading up to Easter)
• Easter (Celebrating the resurrection of Christ)
• Pentecost (The coming of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church)
• Ordinary Time (Focus on the teachings and ministry of Christ)

How to present it to your congregation

• Calendar Integration: Your church can create a Christian calendar and add it to your published church calendar (even in Faith Teams).
• Education: Teach the meaning of each season through sermons, Bible studies, newsletters, and digital media (emails, blogs, social media) to explain the significance of the seasons. Encourage small group/Sunday school leaders to make the calendar part of their regular presentations
• Visual Aids: Use church bulletins, websites/blogs, and bulletin boards to display the Christian calendar. And share it on Facebook too.

2. Preparation for the Seasons

Each season has its own focus, and spiritual traditions. Here’s how a church can prepare for these seasons:

• Advent:
  • Focus on waiting, hope, and expectation.
  • Organize Advent devotionals or Bible studies.
  • Encourage families to use Advent wreaths or calendars at home.
  • Prepare the church space with decorations (purple colors, Advent wreath, nativity scenes).
  • And yes, mix in cultural Christmas decorations such as those showing Santa Claus.
• Christmas
  • A season of anticipation and celebration of the birth of Jesus.
  • Christmas pageants, and special Christmas Eve services are ways to celebration as a congregation.
  • Encourage family gatherings to continue celebrations at home.
• Lent:
  • A season of reflection, repentance, self-denial, and sacrifice.
  • Hold Ash Wednesday services to begin the season.
  • Encourage practices such as fasting, prayer, or charitable giving.
  • Offer weekly Lenten studies or devotional guides for personal reflection.
• Holy Week:
  • Special services, including Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil, to lead up to Easter.
  • Reenactments of the passion story can be powerful for your congregation.
    
• Easter:
  • Celebrate the resurrection with joy and celebration. Consider organizing sunrise services (even outside), baptisms, or renewal of baptismal ceremonies.
  • Prepare with joyful music, seasonal decorations, and messages of hope and victory over death.
    
• Pentecost:
  • Focus on the coming of the Holy Spirit.
  • Encourage the congregation to wear red on Pentecost Sunday.
  • Celebrate with services focused on the work of the Spirit and the global mission of the Church.

3. Celebrating Each Season

Each season has its unique way of being celebrated, from gift giving at Christmas, to solemn fasting in Lent to joyful feasting at Easter. The following are ways the church can lead the congregation in celebrations:

• Worship Services:
  • Tailor sermons, music, and prayers to reflect the themes of each season.
  • Use the seasonal colors (purple for Advent and Lent, white for Christmas and Easter, red for Pentecost) in church decor, vestments, materials and on websites and social media pages.
• Community Events:
  • Organize community meals, festivals, or social gatherings tied to the seasons. For example, have an Advent dinner or Easter brunch.
  • Encourage service projects during Lent or Advent to express Christian charity and generosity.
    
• Children’s and Youth Programs:
  • Provide special lessons, crafts, and activities for children that correspond to the liturgical season.
  • Host holiday pageants or dramatizations for Christmas or Easter that allow children to participate in the telling of the story.
  • And while more cultural, host an Easter egg hunt or egg decorating contest.
    
• Special Seasonal Practices:
  • Introduce specific Christian practices associated with each season (e.g., lighting candles during Advent, foot-washing on Maundy Thursday, processions on Palm Sunday).
    

4. Incorporating Technology and Media

• Use social media to share devotional thoughts, prayer prompts, and reflections during the seasons. Be bold as the cost to reach people in this way is low and the reach high.
  
• Livestream special services for those unable to attend in person.
  
• Develop or share podcasts, playlists of seasonal hymns, or videos to keep congregants engaged outside of services.
  

5. Encouraging Personal and Family Observance

• Offer resources to help families and individuals mark the seasons at home. This could include prayer guides, reflection questions, and simple rituals.
• For Advent, suggest the use of an Advent wreath or Jesse Tree at home. For Lent, encourage households to set up a prayer space or do a family fast.

Bringing the full Christian calendar to your congregation and community provides them with the opportunity to remember the whole ministry of salvation in each year and brings them together better with purpose. The Church calendar also keeps our focus where it should be, on Jesus Christ.