Reformed Church In America

Though heir to the Calvinist Reformation which eliminated worship practices not specified in Scripture, the Reformed Church in America has in recent decades turned toward fuller usage of the Christian year. Increasingly, congregations are discovering that the liturgy, music, symbols, and education connected with the church year do not threaten the primacy of Scripture but dramatize the biblical story and help connect faith to all aspects of human experience. The extent to which congregations in the Reformed Church in America (RCA) practice the church year varies widely. A few churches observe only Christmas, Easter, and Palm Sunday. More than 80 percent keep Advent, Lent, Maundy Thursday, and Pentecost. About three-quarters observe Good Friday, around 40 percent celebrate Epiphany, Ascension, and Ash Wednesday, and almost a quarter mark Trinity Sunday. (Survey data from Worship: A Newsletter for Congregations in the Reformed Church in America [March 1987]: 3). Modes of Observance …