Charismatic Churches

Charismatic churches often began in a reaction against the formalism of historic denominations, and the charismatic movement as a whole has shown little interest in any parts of the traditional Christian year outside of Christmas and Easter. However, many of these churches have begun to recover aspects of the Old Testament festal calendar, and there is renewed interest in the historic Christian calendar as well. Observance of the traditional Christian year has been all but ignored by the churches in the charismatic tradition, with the exception of the special celebration of the Christmas and Easter seasons. As Christians from various traditions encountered the work of the Holy Spirit in a charismatic way, many clustered themselves into new fellowships and left the Christian year behind. They preferred an open, informal format with little or no structure so that the Spirit would move in whichever direction he wished, regardless of the liturgical season. Many new charismatics who had e…