The Liturgical Calendar: Should Christians Observe It?

If you’re a Christian, it’s highly likely that you celebrate the holidays of Christmas and Easter to celebrate the birth and resurrection of Jesus. You may even attend a Good Friday service each year to reflect on Jesus’s death on the cross three days before Easter. However, not all Christians know about the full liturgical calendar (also known as the church calendar or liturgical year) which divides the entire year into an annual cycle of seasons and days based on the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. While the liturgical calendar is often thought of as a primarily Catholic tradition, some Protestant denominations (such as Presbyterians, Lutherans, Anglicans, and Methodists) observe it in their churches as well. However, other denominations, such as Baptists and Pentecostals, typically do not. So what is the liturgical calendar?

According to The Gospel Coalition, “The Christian calendar (also known as the liturgical calendar or ecclesiastical calendar) is an annual schedule that commemorates certain days and seasons related to the history of salvation.” The seasons that make up the liturgical calendar are Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost, and “ordinary time”. But should Christians observe it?

A church. Photo Credit: Gregory Hayes on Unsplash

One Vanguard student, Amanda Fagan, said this when asked about whether or not she observes the liturgical calendar: “I’m Lutheran, and my church observes the liturgical calendar. I think one of the main benefits that the liturgical calendar provides is a sense of celebration, reverence, and structure…I believe the liturgical calendar teaches Christians about the stories in the Bible by giving them a celebratory experience. It’s a great way to learn about the Bible and culture.”

As the history of the church went on and denominations split from one another to create new ones, a lot of Protestant evangelical denominations dropped the tradition of following the church calendar, likely seeing it as an unnecessary invention of the Catholic church as they let go of other Catholic traditions too.

The first church I ever attended was an evangelical charismatic church that did not observe the liturgical calendar. However, I started attending a traditional Presbyterian church about a year ago that does follow the liturgical calendar. For me, I found that it was very helpful to me in my relationship with God to be constantly reminded of what God has done for us through seasonal reminders.

While observing the liturgical calendar is not a Biblical command and therefore should not be treated as such, there can be some benefits to following the tradition. It is not mandatory, but it can be helpful to one’s faith.