The Seasons of the Church
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Within Christianity, the year is broken into distinct seasons. These seasons fall into what is known as the liturgical year or the church year. The seasons within the church year each emphasize different themes and practices, but they also highlight different aspects of Jesus’ life and the life of faith that we are all living into.
Like any calendar, the church calendar shows important days and events that the church celebrates. Some seasons are short, like Christmas, which is only twelve days. Other seasons are longer, lasting around twenty-five weeks.
Each season has its own colour, and we use those colours in our worship spaces and on the paraments and vestments (altar cloths and clothes that the worship leaders wear during worship services) to add symbolism to each season.
People naturally order their lives in various ways. We measure our work days, the week follows a certain order, we mark special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, the school year, etc. The church uses the liturgical calendar to give shape and direction to the life of faith. It sets a rhythm that helps to tell the story of God, who acts in our lives in different ways at different times.
The seasons of the church year are:
Advent - (begins between Nov. 27 and Dec. 3 each year)
Christmas - (Dec. 25 to Jan. 5)
The Season After Epiphany - (Jan. 6 until the Sunday before Ash Wednesday)
Lent - (begins between Feb. 4 and Mar. 10 each year)
Holy Week - (the week before Easter)
Easter - (between Mar. 22 and Apr. 25 each year)
The Time of the Church - (begins between May 10 and June 13 each year)
Information on Vicar Philip Supeck
to Come
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Advent
season color:
Purple
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Advent is a season of spiritual preparation for the celebration of the birth of Christ (Christmas) and looks forward to the future reign of Christ. Eschatological expectation rather than personal penitence is the central theme of the season. Advent is a preparation for rather than a celebration of Christmas, so Advent hymns should be sung instead of Christmas carols. The first Sunday of Advent is not the beginning of the Christmas season. The Christmas celebration begins on Christmas Eve and continues for the next "twelve days of Christmas."
Purple is normally Advent's liturgical color, associated both with the sovereignty of Christ and with penitence. Deep Blue is also sometimes used to distinguish the season from Lent. As the color of the night sky, Blue symbolizes Christ who in one ancient Advent song is called the "Dayspring" or source of day. As the color associated with Mary, Blue also reminds us that during Advent the church waits with Mary for the birth of Jesus.
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Christmas and Christmas Season
season color:
White or Gold
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The Lectionary readings for Christmas and the following twelve days (culminating in the feast of the Epiphany) invite the church to reflect on the Incarnation (or embodiment) of God as a human being: "The Word became a human being and lived among us, and we have seen his glory...." (John 1:14). In Christ, God enters human history and identifies fully with the human condition.
The traditional colors of the season are White or Gold, symbolizing joy in the light of day.
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Season after Epiphany
season color:
Green
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The season following Epiphany continues the theme established on Epiphany Day: the spread of the Good News of Christ from its source in the Jewish community to all nations on earth. The Lectionary therefore explores the mission of the church in the world. The theme of this season (along with the sequence of readings from the Gospel) continues in the season after Pentecost, so both seasons together can be called the "Time of the Church." The traditional liturgical color for both seasons, Green, is the color of growth.
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