Marking Time: Forming Spirituality through the Christian Year

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Mark i ng T ime : Formi ng Sp i r i tua l i t y through the Chr i s t i an Year

itself to time and history in these ways, it is entirely appropriate to commemorate, celebrate, and anticipate it in the temporal symbolism that the church’s calendar represents . That is in no way to deny the openness of all Christian worship and the whole of Christian existence to the entire mystery of God.

~ George Wainwright. “The Origins of the Church Year.” Robert Webber., ed. The Services of the Church Year . Nashville: Star Song Pub. Group, p. 86.

A. Tradition is rooted in the remembrance, celebration, enactment , and proclamation of the story of God’s promise to redeem and save a people for his own.

1. Every age of Christian testimony has given witness to their deep faith and hope in the salvation promise of the triune God to redeem a people out of the world for his own possession and service.

2. The history of the Judeo-Christian faith is anchored in a hope which is renewed daily, weekly, monthly, and annually in the worship and service of the people of God, rooted in the work of Jesus of Nazareth, demonstrated in his perfect life, expressed in his death on the Cross, and vindicated by his resurrection from the dead and ascension to the Father’s right hand. 3. Rooted in the historical journey of God’s people Israel, and made real in the life an service of the Church, tradition involves those acts, behaviors, customs, and practices which articulate, celebrate, enact, retell, defend, and embody the story of God’s salvation in Jesus.

4. It also includes those doctrines and practices whereby we sanctify the present by remembering the past so we can better live in light of the future, our true hope of glory in Christ.