Church Of God, Cleveland, Tennessee

Resistance to observance of the Christian year is deeply entrenched in the Church of God, Cleveland, tradition. Such formal worship practices have long been considered a hindrance to the believer's freedom and spontaneity in responding to the power of the Holy Spirit. Little movement toward full adoption of the Christian year exists, but use of modified portions of the yearly calendar is becoming more frequent. Beyond celebrations of Christmas and Easter, very little observance of the Christian year occurs in the Church of God, Cleveland. It simply isn't part of the thought processes and worship patterns that prevail in the denomination. And this neglect in itself deepens the general lack of understanding of the purpose and benefits of the Christian year. Rejection of Formalism The suspicion of the Christian year reflects the concerns that prompted the founding of the denomination in the late nineteenth century and which remain vital today. After several years of prayer, R. G. Spu…