Alternative Practice Of The Christian Year In Pentecostal/charismatic Churches

Many Pentecostal assemblies have begun to discover in recent years that the stability, organization, and connection with historic Christian roots that comes with following the lectionary and church year supports rather than conflicts with spontaneity and enthusiasm in worship. Pentecostals have not traditionally kept the church year. They have been more likely to observe secular holidays, such as New Year's Day, Fourth of July, and Mother's Day. It is not that Pentecostals have been hostile to the observance of Christian holidays-most assemblies have special programs of some kind for Christmas and Easter, for example. Rather, the idea of organizing church life around the Christian year has simply been alien to them. Quiet Adoption of the Lectionary Many Pentecostals, though, are beginning to adopt the church year. One influential assembly, Christ Church in Nashville, Tennessee, quietly made the change eight years ago. They began by using the lectionary for sermon preparation. The …