I’ve had mixed feelings about the Church Year this Lenten season. Why do we have Lent? Why Advent?
I know historically and theologically why we have them. But are they necessary? Are they useful?
Maybe those are the wrong questions. My mixed feelings stem from wondering if by having a season of Lent we say that discipline, fasting, self-denial, etc are only for a season also?
Last year I did a bread and water fast for a portion of Lent. I had to let it go because in making long bike rides, I was losing strength and feeling horrible. But I also think something else happened. I think I thought because I had started some big fast that the lesser fasting of each week fell by the wayside. Now, I recognize, that is about ME.
But I think I can say that other people experience something similar. For example, during Lent, and especially Holy Week, there was a flurry of activity on blogs and twitter about how the “days” and particular acts of worship were enriching people’s lives, and now there is noticeably less discussion about deep things of the spiritual life. Do Lent and Advent lull us into thinking “This is the only time we talk about this stuff?”
I have some close friends who really enjoy the church calendar. I am going to open the blog up to them to get their take on things. I hope they will not only talk about the benefits of the church calendar, but also look at some of the pitfalls of putting aspects of the spiritual life into boxes of time. Maybe we can get some clarity about the place of the church year in Protestant Churches.
A few quick thoughts:
ReplyDelete1. The church year is about corporateness, not necessarily personal devotion or worship. These are times set aside to do things together as the church. And not just the local church, but the world-wide church.
2. The church year keeps us from simply doing what we like best. It exposes us to all aspects of Christian disciple and worship, reminding us lest we forget.
3. The church year can be misused, but that is a function of sinful humanity... the church year can be ineffective or unhelpful, but more often than not it is a challenge to allow the church input on the ordering of our days, rather than following the calendar of the world.
I largely agree. But I think there are some assumptions we make that need to be seen. By keeping us from doing just what we like... how is it that we do that? How does not following a church year keep us from that? My own bias is that the Church Year is what many people like! It keeps us from fasting outside of Lent, in my experience. There has to be a balance, and what I hope to get out of some conversations is first, what are the hazards and limitations of the church year, and then how to avoid that?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment- you should do a guest post!!!
This is a new thought it my head, so it's not fully formed... Perhaps the biggest limitation is not with the church year in particular, but in the lack of practical influence of the church on her congregants. For many church attenders, the things we do at church and in church bear little on life outside of Sunday morning. How many Christians continue to celebrate Easter for 50 days outside of Sunday worship? Celebrate Epiphany? Celebrate the Ascension? How many sing traditional hymns or listen to organ music as they fix super or drive to work? Use Thee and Thou when they speak? I think that Lenten fasting is the exception to this. A large majority of Christians (Catholic and Protestant) make the decision to give up something for Lent. It's not that the church year keeps people from fasting at times other than Lent, but that this is one part of the church year that people have embraced - even members of non-liturgical denominations.
ReplyDeleteI think you're on to something. Strangely enoiugh, I think the same thing with a different conclusion! There was all kind of "he is risen" tweets on Easter Sunday, none since, and they were from folks heavily interested in the church year. Ascension Day, I think that topic is one of the best revival sermon topics I have! (I tell people they need to plead for more time to truly follow Jesus from the Heart.)
ReplyDeleteSo what do we do? Do we opt for a once a year time to touch pn certain subjects? How do we get them to be deeper, ingrained parts of our lives?
You really need to do a guest post!!!