Church Calendar

Abstract

Abstract The church calendar (also known as the liturgical calendar and the Christian year) is designed by season to trace the life and ministry of Christ, his death, burial, and resurrection, and the hope of his coming again to redeem his people. Briefly, the church calendar should be viewed as a reflection on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. The feasts and fasts celebrated in Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions are omitted from Protestant church calendars; however, the basic structure of the Christian year is common to all traditions. Many churches follow a lectionary, a three‐year cycle of scriptural texts providing an Old Testament lesson, a Psalm, a New Testament lesson, and a Gospel lesson for each Sunday in the Christian year. In the Christian denominations and churches that use a lectionary, ministry is enhanced through the emphasis on the major themes of the Christian story told over the course of a calendar year.