Methodist pastor outlines history behind church calendar

Published 8:07 pm Saturday, April 16, 2022

There was a time when every single Sunday was considered Easter Sunday. No Advent, Christmas, or Lent. Not even the observance of Good Friday. The Liturgical Year was years in the making. At the city of Sulphur Rotary meeting on Wednesday, April 11, Juliette Spencer, Senior Pastor of Henning Memorial United Methodist Church offered an abbreviated history behind the church calendar. She even explained why Easter might be celebrated in March one year and April the next.

“When the early Christians realized that Jesus wasn’t coming back as quickly as they thought — because remember they thought they would see his return in their lifetime — they realized they couldn’t celebrate Easter every week. So, over the next century Easter got moved to once a year,” Spencer said.

One faction argued that the date of celebration should fall on a Sunday. Another argued it should be celebrated two days after Passover, whether that fell on a Sunday or not.

“Finally in the 8th century, there was a majority who thought Easter should always be on a Sunday,” Spencer said.

But which Sunday? For this decision, Passover from the Jewish calendar – based on the moon’s phases – was given some consideration.

“Easter is always on the first Sunday after the first full moon of Spring,” Spencer said. “Spring is March 21. There will be a Sunday after a full moon anytime between March 22 and April 25.”

The next observance added to the Christian calendar was Good Friday.

“You know, you can’t just wake up one day and have something so magnificent as the resurrection without acknowledging what led up to it,” Spencer said, referring to the thinking that might have occurred at the time.

Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday, wasn’t added to the calendar until later. Spencer explained the significance.

“Maundy is Latin for commandment,” Spencer said. “When Jesus was eating with his disciples in the upper room he washed their feet and according to the Gospel of John, he gave a new commandment, that we love one another as he has loved us.”

“How long do we celebrate Easter,” she asked the crowd.

After a few guesses, she gave the answer, 50.

“And it ends on the day that’s historically viewed as the birthday of the church, Pentecost Sunday, the day the Holy Spirit was given,” she said.

No Easter
without Christmas 

The third date added to the Liturgical Year, after Easter and Good Friday, was Christmas. Early Christians reasoned that without the birth, there would be no resurrection. No one knows for sure why December 25 is the date chosen for Christmas, Spencer said. However, she believes the theory based on an ancient belief – that the day of death is the same as the day of conception – is a good one. Using March 25 as the date of His death – Good Friday –  His birthdate was established. Unlike those who argued and won to have Easter celebrated on Sunday, those who argued for the birth to be celebrated on a Sunday, did not.

“And then they thought, we can’t just wake up one day and give thanks for the birth of Jesus, we need to get ourselves ready,” Spencer said.

Advent was added to the calendar as a time of preparation, a time to reflect. It commences on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. It also marks the beginning of the Liturgical Year.

Lent was added to the calendar to prepare for Easter and represent the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness, fasting, praying, and being tempted by Satan before he started his public ministry.

For Spencer, following the liturgical calendar is a reminder of defining events in human history “given by God in Jesus Christ.”

“Marking time by the birth, life, death, resurrection and gift of the Holy Spirit, to name a few key celebrations, we are also witnessing to the world. It is a proclamation that it’s not the world that gives meaning to our days, rather, it is what God has done and is doing through the love and grace of Christ Jesus.”

Henning Memorial United Methodist Church will be celebrating Easter Sunday with Rev. Spencer at 9 a.m. The church is located at 404 S. Huntington St. in Sulphur. To find out more, call 337-528-3501.