Calendars
For most of us we post a new calendar that begins on January 1st of each year. We celebrate the beginning of a new year; we make resolutions and if we are really diligent, we look at the coming year’s calendar and determine unique events that we would like to participate in. Maybe it is planning an extended vacation to some place you have never been before. Maybe it is a special birthday, anniversary or maybe even a wedding in the family that is coming up during the calendar year.
The formal church has a calendar also and it begins with the first Sunday of Advent which traditionally is the last Sunday in November. All other special and holy days dates are set by the beginning of Advent and counting days’ weeks, months, and full moons. Easter is determined by the number of full moons from the birth of our Lord and usually parallels the Jewish holiday of Passover. Following Easter, we look towards Pentecost and following Pentecost the church calendar is called Normal Times and continues from that point until the beginning of Advent with only a few special church worship days.
The local church calendar for many churches begins the Sunday following Labor Day weekend. For many churches, that Sunday is a Reunion Celebration Sunday because many people return from summer, and I know that some churches have celebrations around a church picnic or special activity of the church so that everyone can greet each other in a large social setting. On that Sunday or maybe the following Sunday most Sunday School classes begin. Sunday School and other program leaders are commissioned and prayed for. The fall, winter, spring, and summer calendars are usually based around the fall acknowledgement of being back together as a church family.
For us at Claybanks it may not be quite a large celebration; we do look forward to being together after a summer that may have been too short, too hot, and for some, maybe even too long. Being a rural church we see the harvest happening all around us in late summer and coming to its fullness in the fall. It may be fruit that has been harvested, vegetables from the garden, the grain, corn, and soybeans in the field are ready for harvest and to be brought in and stored for the winter ahead. The fall brings back a more regular routine for many of us here at Claybanks. Fall is the beginning of Sunday school. We decorate our church with many things that represent the changing of fall season around us. The leaves blow and gather at our back door, the heat to warm our building is turned back on. All these things are indicative of what lies ahead for the Claybanks United Methodist Church. For a few months beginning in the fall, we have our once-a-month movie and potluck, the first Sunday in October is World Communion Sunday. In October we usually conduct our Annual Church Charge Conference. On the evening of December 24th, we will celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior with a Candlelight Service. And in January we usually have a new mission project that quite often is selected around the change to the winter season. Hats, mittens and gloves, scarves and occasionally winter coats are collected to be shared with those in our community. In the dead of winter Lent begins and for seven weeks our worship, devotions, and many of the messages that I prepare for you focus on a time of reflection and discernment. Easter and our visit to an empty tomb with a church breakfast gives us a time when we can gather as a church family and celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Spring is a time when we get to celebrate Mother’s Day and Pentecost, Father’s Day any number of secular holidays.
We have just recently come off a remarkably busy August with our Strawberry Social, our Old Time Worship Service and picnic. We take a deep breath as summer ends and our local church calendar resets itself for a new year. With this cycle our calendar repeats itself with the Ragnar Relay, small celebrations, and additions to our church life such as mission projects, and other social events.
At this time, as we read this pondering together, I would like you to not only reflect on the year that has gone by but look to the year ahead with anticipation of good things to come. Maybe it is a new program or a new happening at Claybanks Church. Maybe it is you stepping forward to fill a position on one of our committees, our administrative council or volunteering in a mission project that you have never done before. I would like us each to look at what we can do to bring joy to our church family and to ourselves by committing to be just a little bit more involved in the happenings of Claybanks United Methodist Church. So let us commit ourselves to do something or experience something new this year as individuals and as a church family.
Claybanks United Methodist Church 