Sacred Roots Workshop

152 Sacred Roots Workshop: Retr ieving the Great Tradi t ion in the Contemporary Church

2. Church Year observance can be seen as a continuum: from the rejection of all observances of the Christian calendar as complex, sub-cultural and unbiblical, to the ballooning of the calendar to include every kind of dogmatic or doctrinal emphasis, and inordinate expan- sion of saint days, holy days, feasts and fast days!

3. Note Webber’s “evangelical pattern”: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost celebrations.

4. No Christian in good conscience can be against the remembrance and reflection on the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, celebrated in real time! This is an expression of true Christian freedom, the kind that can both edify the Church and enrich our spirituality together!

V. Living the Baptized Life: Practical Suggestions

A. Organize your community’s spiritual pilgrimage around the events of Christ’s life each year.

1. Set aside special time for the leadership team to seek the Lord, to pray, and to discuss the formation of an annual theme, and mapping out spiritual pilgrimage calendar.

2. Adopt a specific theme for your spiritual pilgrimage together linked and keyed to the Church year: e.g., The Wondrous Cross .

3. Set specific goals and objectives to share discreet experiences together, using the Church Year as your structure for pilgrimage.