The church calendar in the Assemblies of God includes only some of the major events of the Christian year, but also designates numerous days for the promotion of denominational programs and recognizes national holidays and ecumenical observances. Congregations have considerable freedom in choosing which days to observe and how to observe them. Due in part to the influence of charismatics with backgrounds in the liturgical churches, some Assemblies of God pastors are beginning to incorporate more of the events of the traditional church year into worship.
The monthly minister’s magazine, Advance, the major channel of communication between Assemblies of God denominational headquarters and local pastors, each year contains in its August issue a thirty-two-page supplement called the “Pastor’s Planbook.” The planbook reveals much about yearly observances in the Assemblies of God, for it includes a 32“ x 22” poster-sized calendar designed to aid the pastor in tracing and evaluating the progress of the church for the next calendar year. The Master Calendar designated 1992, the third year of the denomination’s “Decade of Harvest,” as the “Year of Action” with the theme of “Win Them by All Means” (1 Cor. 9:22). In addition to the printed designations, the pastor may mark on the calendar what the emphasis will be for the year and what special days and events they will celebrate, sponsor, and promote.
The Planbook Calendar and Liturgical Life
Several features of the planbook and calendar provide insight into the liturgical life of the Assemblies of God. First, the denomination’s worship calendar matches that of the calendar year. Our year does not start with Advent as with most other churches.
Second, the only liturgical or solely Christian events printed on the calendar include Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost Sunday, Reformation Day, and Christmas. There is no mention of Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Ascension Day, Trinity Sunday, Christ the King Sunday, or any of the other liturgical celebrations of many of the historical Protestant churches or Anglicanism.
Third, by far the most significant number of events are what could be called denominational program days. There is a heavy emphasis on missions in the Assemblies of God liturgical calendar. In the “Pastor’s Planbook,” the first Sunday of each month is listed as “Missions Sunday.” Also, on the months where there are five Sundays, there is a fundraising program for special mission projects called “Fifth Dimension.” Other missions-oriented Sundays—both home and foreign—include Teen Challenge Day, Boys and Girls Missionary Crusade Day (children), New Church Evangelism Day, Light-for-the-Lost Day (men’s department program), Intercultural Ministries Day, Chi Alpha Campus Ministries Day, Prison Sunday, and Speed-the-Light Day (youth).
Besides these various mission-oriented Sundays are Sundays designated for promoting and raising funds for a wide range of denominational activities and concerns. Among such days are Men’s Day, Women’s Ministries Day, Church Membership Day, Cradle Roll Day, Child Care Day, Youth Day, Family Week, Missionettes Week (girl’s program), High School Day, Aged Minister’s Assistance Day, Military Personnel Day, College Commitment Day (for Assemblies of God schools), National Ministers Day, National Sunday School Day, Royal Ranger Week (boy scouting program), Stewardship Sunday, and “Revivaltime” World Prayer meeting (radio ministry). Another denominational event for the year includes a week of prayer emphasis in January.
Fourth, the calendar reflects an ecumenical dimension of the Assemblies of God. It includes, for example, Sanctity of Human Life Sunday (third week of January), World Day of Prayer (March), National Day of Prayer (May), and Bible Sunday (December).
Fifth, national American holidays are listed, such as New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Election Day, Veteran’s Day, and Thanksgiving Day. Finally, there are civil days of celebration, but which are not considered as holidays, such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Armed Forces Day, Children’s Day, Father’s Day, Single Adult Day, and Watch Night.
With all of these liturgical, denominational, ecumenical, national, and civil emphases, only seventeen Sundays on the 1992 calendar were open, with no special theme recommended. Eight Sundays have two items of emphasis on the same day.
Free Use of the Calendar
The Assemblies of God is in the free-church tradition, which means each congregation is sovereign to govern itself and to establish its own liturgical schedule and style. There are no weekly lectionary or designated Scripture readings, nor use of any of the councilor creeds of the church. Although this freedom allows for a great deal of creativity on the part of pastors and worship leaders, it also makes it difficult to describe the “typical” Assemblies of God’s pattern of worship. Each church is free to use or refuse any or all denominational emphases recommended in the “Pastor’s Planbook” and Master Calendar.
Some Assemblies of God pastors are beginning to incorporate some of the more traditional liturgical events into church life. Just where this influence is coming from is hard to say, but no doubt charismatics moving from the historic churches into the Assemblies of God have made an impact by bringing with them an appreciation for the liturgical practices they had previously known. For example, many Assemblies of God congregations now celebrate the four Sundays of Advent and Epiphany Sunday. Others give some kind of recognition to Lent. Others offer special services during Holy Week and on Christmas Eve. Some churches have found ways to offer Communion more than only once a month. Drama and dance are sometimes being used in worship, although this is still rather controversial. It is likely that various creative endeavors will continue and that many pastors will move toward following more closely the Christian liturgical year and putting less emphasis upon denominational and national themes.
In A Church with a Promise (Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1990), David A. Womack describes the Assemblies of God to the outsider looking for a church home as “a church for our times.” He describes our worship as “informal and spontaneous” and observes that we would rather “err on the side of friendliness with each other and confidence in the presence of God than to approach God and His people with a cold or ceremonious attitude.” However, in addition to being a church with a promise, we are a church in transition, moving to a new dimension of development and maturity. One sign of that movement, among the larger congregations at least, is a new and deeper appreciation for the historic Christian faith as demonstrated in the observance of the Christian liturgical year.