Resistance to the 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 the 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. Spurling, Sr., an elderly pastor in the mountains of eastern Tennessee, organized a fellowship of believers who were seeking spiritual renewal. His action was in response to the lack of spiritual life and dead formalism that dominated his own denomination. The Church of God has since continued to reject those worship practices considered representative of a lower level or absence of spirituality. In so doing, it has tended to discard entire systems of suspect practices without evaluating each part separately.
Moreover, by its very nature, the freestyle of worship predominant in the Church of God fosters a lack of interest in the Christian year. The freedom to choose what to do and when to do it as the Holy Spirit directs is preferred to a human ecclesiastical calendar.
The relative youthfulness of the denomination may also be a factor in the lack of appreciation for the Christian year. The scarcity of major events in the denomination’s history worthy of widespread celebration in the worship setting contributes to apathy about historical observances, a trend that carries over to neglect of commemorating significant events and people in Christian history.
A final factor is the denomination’s approach to ministerial training. Since credentialing has not been dependent upon a formal educational standard, many ministers never took programs of study that would have introduced them to the Christian year. Courses in church history and worship would no doubt have corrected this lack of appreciation.
Perpetuate Pentecost
As in other denominations of Pentecostal and Holiness background, the tradition of ignoring the Christian year in the Church of God runs deep. Any dramatic change would be viewed as a digression from denominational roots. It also would be seen by some as a deviation from the principle of spontaneity in worship.
Therefore, at this point, there is no trend toward introducing the Christian year as part of the denomination’s guide for worship and observance. However, the influence of the Christian year is manifested in small ways from time to time. One example is the celebration of Pentecost Sunday, which for decades received only minimal attention in the Church of God. Due to the church’s Pentecostal theology and practice, Pentecost was considered a regular emphasis throughout the entire year, not just on one day. However, in 1967 the denominational leadership instituted the Perpetuate Pentecost emphasis for each local church to observe on Pentecost Sunday. A special edition of the Church of God Evangel emphasizing the Day of Pentecost described in Acts 2 and giving specifics of Pentecostal doctrine was developed for members and non-members alike. Though that particular program has changed, the net result has been a heightened emphasis on the annual celebration of Pentecost, which has lasted to the present.
Channels for Change
Since each local congregation determines its own pattern of observance and worship emphasis, the door is open for the introduction of aspects of the Christian year. The key factor is the preference of the local pastor. If the pastor understands the purpose and benefit of a particular practice and is willing to put forth the effort, there is a strong possibility of its being incorporated as a permanent observance during his tenure of ministry.
The increasing number of pastors with some academic exposure to the Christian year will likely lead to greater observance of it. The denomination’s colleges and seminary have introduced courses in worship during the 1980s, and a broader understanding of worship is slowly beginning to appear. Students have been introduced to the strengths of various styles of worship and the benefits from the observance of key events. This results in a new openness to practices that previously had been seen as formal and without spiritual value.
A generally increased understanding and appreciation of our broad Christian heritage is also contributing to changing attitudes about the Christian year. Greater recognition of the men and women of past centuries whose contributions became the foundations for today’s Christian church has led a few congregations to emphasize Reformation Sunday and thus look to reference points beyond the denomination’s particular history.
A recent trend toward larger local congregations may also open the way to selective use of the Christian year. The performance/participation pattern of worship practiced in these congregations lends itself to such usage. Choral presentations are a particularly likely starting point for the introduction of aspects of the Christian year in these churches.
No clearly identifiable movement exists to introduce the Christian year as a whole into local church practice. And it is very doubtful there will be one in the next several decades. However, due to the factors mentioned above, portions of the Christian year will be more frequently observed in an increasing number of Church of God congregations.