(Re)-discovering the Christian calendar

Daniel Hill

January 20, 2015

One of the joys that comes from being in a multiethnic, economically diverse church is the constant exposure you get to experiences that are different than your own. I suppose that can feel a bit overwhelming at times, but overall I consider this a true gift. I love to learn new things, discover new perspectives, and discover aspects of God and life that remained previously unseen to me.

One of the new arenas of interest for me lately has been the (re)-discovery of the Christian calendar, and the significance of each season in the life of Christ. I vaguely remember hearing terms like Advent, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, Pentecost Sunday and Lent growing up, but I really didn’t know what any of them meant. And I definitely had no idea how they were all linked together in joining a historic chorus of voices committed to honoring and tracking the full life of Christ.

I’ve also become curious as to how well the people in my congregation know the Christian calendar. So two Sundays ago I did an informal poll at the beginning of my sermon. I gave everyone three categories, and asked them to raise hands for which one matched their experience best when it came to the Church calendar:

You grew up in a church background that followed the Christian calendar, and you feel like you have a solid understanding of what that means
You didn’t grow up around the Christian calendar, but you still feel like you have a solid understanding of what that means
You have no idea what people are talking about when they talk about the Christian calendar (and I tried to give permission to those in this category by mentioning that this was the one I fell in historically)

I should have probably expected the response – we were almost evenly divided between each of the three categories!

I only spent another couple minutes on this topic, because it wasn’t the main point of the sermon. But here is what I shared on the topic:

I am by nature a very in-the-moment person (high “P” on the Myers-Briggs if that means anything to you). I don’t like to get too far ahead in my thinking about much of anything, because I start to feel anxiety that I won’t be able to properly respond to whatever the current challenge is if things are too pre-planned. There are some advantages to a personality like this, and some clear disadvantages if I’m not balanced by different personalities.

One of the reasons I’m enjoying learning about the historic Christian calendar is because it helps guard against my in-the-moment personality. As I’m sure it does for most pastors, my personality bleeds into the personality of the church. I want River City to be a place that can respond to the current challenges of the day, and that consistently remains alert to the in-the-moment word of God.

However, I realize there are blind spots that come with that type of mindset. As Carlos Ruiz, one of the pastors at River City often says, the American Church is very susceptible to fads. We get caught up in whatever the latest thing is, and then end up revolving the life and programming of the church around whatever that fad is. By staying connected to the historic Christian calendar, we guard against this susceptibility of being caught up in a fad, and instead keep our eyes fixed on the holistic life of Christ.

So that’s one of my new commitments! I’m trying to live with a foot in each world. I want to remain alert to the in-the-moment voice of God, and respond to the challenges of our day, time, and place. But I also want to keep one foot in the historic Christian calendar. I want to rely on and learn from tradition, and I want to guard both myself and the congregation I’m part of from falling into whatever the latest fad is.

How about you? What’s your journey been like with the Christian calendar?

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Daniel Hill

I am a lifelong Chicagoan, a pastor at River City Community Church, and an author who writes a lot about resisting and confronting white supremacy from a faith lens. Our church was founded in January of 2003 in the west Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago, and is centered on the core values of worship, reconciliation, and neighborhood development. We long to see increased spiritual renewal as well as social and economic justice in the Humboldt Park neighborhood and entire city, demonstrating compassion and alleviating poverty as tangible expressions of the Kingdom of God. It is also through the gift of this faith community that I have learned to see the profound historical and spiritual impact of the stronghold of white supremacy, and where I have been challenged to broaden and deepen my understanding of discipleship in the hopes of becoming a serious enough Christ follower who is able to meaningfully participate with those who have risen up in defiance of this evil principality. The lessons learned in this journey have been captured in a pair of books on race. The first, White Awake, explores the barriers that white people tend to face – white Christians specifically – when we attempt to awaken to and understand white supremacy through a faith lens. I spend a lot of time here addressing the internal defenses that are bound to go off when this journey is taken seriously, and I chart out a path for developing a resilient spirit that steadfastly moves towards truth, justice, and equity. The second, White Lies, further builds out the path for the white Christian who longs to actively participate in the resistance and confrontation of white supremacy. I spend a lot of time here exploring why it is so hard to tell the truth about race, as well as expose the lies that sustain it, within white, Christian, Bible-believing environments. I then propose nine practices that position us for engaging in this task. On the personal front, my career started in the marketplace, as I was part of three dot.com startups in the 90’s. My vocational path shifted when I joined the staff of Willow Creek Community Church in 1998, and I spent five years working there. I started River City Community Church in January 2003 and have been happily serving here ever since. On the education front, my undergrad was in Business (Purdue University), my graduate degree in theology (Moody Bible Institute), and my doctoral degree in community development (Northern Seminary). On the family front, my wife is a Professor of Psychology, and we have two amazing children (Xander and Gabriella).

4 responses to “(Re)-discovering the Christian calendar”

Krista Dutt

January 20, 2015 at 9:56 am

I adore the church calendar! As a child, I loved the specialness of Advent and especially of all the different special days of lent. My parents helped me continue these special things at home as well. When I was a pastor, I loved the lectionary and the church calendar to propel me through the larger stories and themes of the Bible. I also really find it helpful in Bible Study as knowing current events and hearing what scriptures have been read for centuries at that time of year – and how the Bible can and does speak is one way that I hear God’s voice each week.

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Daniel

January 20, 2015 at 11:18 am

Thanks for the awesome comments Krista!

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janloyd

January 20, 2015 at 1:17 pm

I love this. I grew up in a liturgical church and to some extent rejected it when I got involved in a more conservative evangelical approach. But I have come to realize what your associate had stated about “fads” in the church. I call them “Christian band-wagons.” I have adored blogging during Advent and Lent during the past two to three years. In so doing, I’m rediscovering and appreciating immensely the Church calendar and how it tracks the life of Christ…and not only that! It also tracks the life of a believer. Thanks, Daniel, for writing on this! Very encouraging!

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Daniel

January 20, 2015 at 1:52 pm

Thank you so much for this Jan! I am very much with you on your thoughts here!

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