CELEBRATE WITH US ALL YEAR LONG!

Just like there are seasons during the year - Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter - there are also seasons in the life of the church throughout the year. Each season helps us focus on different aspects of our faith to teach us, remind us, inspire us, and empower us to be the people God has called us to be.

The church calendar typically starts with the season of Advent and Christmas in late November and early December, where we anticipate and celebrate the birth of Jesus. The Christmas season extends for 12 days before kicking off the season of Epiphany, where the revelation of Jesus’ identity is revealed, which typically happens in early January.

Following the season of Epiphany is the season of Lent. Lent is a 40 day season leading to the celebration of Easter. The season of Lent starts with Ash Wednesday, which is a special service dedicated to drawing us close to God through repentance, forgiveness, and the journey of fasting (giving up) and adopting spiritual disciplines (more prayer, service, scripture reading, etc.) for the duration of the season.

The season of Lent culminates into Holy Week, which highlights the key events in the life and ministry of Jesus that lead him to the cross, to death, and to the Resurrection. Easter Sunday celebrates Jesus being raised to new life and is a season that continues for next 50 days!

During this 50 day Easter season, we pay attention to the work of Jesus post-resurrection as he prepares his disciples to carry his ministry forward and await the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This Easter journey culminates on Pentecost Sunday, where we observe the Holy Spirit coming and anointing the disciples, which empowered them to follow Jesus’ calling and usher in the Kingdom of God through the birth of the church. The season of Pentecost explores the work of the disciples that spread the hope of the Gospel. The Pentecost season carries us forward for the rest of the year until we reach the Advent and Christmas seasons again!

You can learn more about each of these seasons below as well as see what it has looked like or will look like for us at Mountain Park UMC!