Electronic Church Calendar (web & mobile)

Through Google Calendar, we've created an electronic Church Calendar consisting of the seasons and the principal feasts and holy days in the Anglican tradition. Check out the E-Church Calendar page, and click here to access the calendar in your browser. It's also embedded below. (Note: the embed may not display correctly on some mobile devices.)

Click on each event to learn more. In the bottom right corner, click the plus sign (+) to add the E-Church Calendar and integrate it with your phone's calendar app.

We hope the E-Church Calendar is another tool for you, your family, and your church to stay immersed in the Gospel story throughout the year!

Epiphany

The Feast of the Epiphany on January 6 marks the end of Christmas and the beginning of the season of Epiphany. The word "epiphany" means "manifestation." The season begins by celebrating the Magi's visit to the baby Jesus – an event that marks the revealing of Christ to the Gentiles.

The Magi (Henry Siddons Mowbray)

Epiphany also draws our attention to the other ways that Christ revealed Himself as Messiah: his baptism by John when a voice from heaven declares Him to be the Son of God, and His first miracle, turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana. 

The central theme of Epiphany is proclamation, and it's appropriate in this season, as we reflect on these events in Christ's life, to focus on the mission of the Church. The liturgical color is white.

Epiphany ends on February 2, the Feast of the Presentation (sometimes called Candlemas), which recalls the day that Jesus's parents presented him in the Temple, according to the Law of Moses, where Anna and Simeon prophesied over him. After February 2, we enter Ordinary Time until Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, which in 2017 falls on March 1.

Further reading

• The Season After Epiphany (AnglicanPastor.com)
• What is Epiphany About? (MysteryofFaithBlog.com)

Keeping the Church Calendar

Our goal at KeepingAdvent.com is to reacquaint Christians not only with the seasons of Advent and Christmas, but with the Church Calendar more generally. That's because all time is sacred. The annual seasonal cycle of the Church Calendar keeps us immersed in the Gospel story, helping us to walk with Christ throughout the year.

Advent and Christmas are now past, but this site keeps going. You'll see two big changes going forward:

• A redesigned and simplified home page, with a section called "What Time Is It?" that highlights the current church season, dates, themes, and how to learn more.

• Throughout the year, the blog will feature posts on the different church seasons and special days, with resources aplenty: lectionary readings, prayers, short reflections, and selections of music, poetry, and art.

We want to know if this site is useful to you, and whether and how we can improve it. Don't hesitate to contact us with feedback.

Grace & peace,
Ian

Advent 101: A beginner's guide to the seasons

If you didn't grow up in a liturgical tradition (Episcopalian/Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, etc.), the Advent season may be unfamiliar territory to you. Maybe you want to learn more about Advent, Christmas (all twelve days of it!), and even the Church Calendar more generally, but you don't know where or how to start. You're in the right place. Here's our Advent 101, a beginner's guide to the seasons:

Advent and Christmas are distinct seasons.

Advent, which means "arriving," consists of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. The central theme of Advent is expectation. It's a season when Christians both prepare their hearts to celebrate Christ's first coming at Christmas two thousand years ago and look forward to Christ's second coming at the end of time.

The Christmas season runs for twelve days from December 25 to January 5. The central theme of Christmas is joyous celebration as we commemorate the birth of Christ our Savior.

Embed from Getty Images

Advent traditions impart a preparatory rhythm to the season.  

During the Advent season, let your outward practices reflect and shape the inner preparation of your hearts. The most basic Advent tradition is lighting the candles of an Advent wreath as the season progresses. With each week of Advent, a new candle is lit, and the wreath becomes a growing circle of light, a beautiful symbol of our hope in Christ.

Other practices, like an Advent calendar and decorating the home for Christmas, are wonderful ways to experience the rhythms of Advent. Kids love these traditions, too! Our own kids look forward to them every year.

Christmastime is a joyous festival.

While Advent is a season of expectation, Christmas is a season of celebration. Christmas is less rhythm and more revelry. Gather with friends and family, throw a party or two, share meals, give gifts, sing carols, play games. It’s hard to go wrong at Christmastime. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

And the celebration doesn't end on December 25. The season of Christmas lasts for twelve days. Find ways to "keep the party going" through fun-filled traditions, feastdays, and music.

Embed from Getty Images

Advent and Christmas are seasons of the Church Calendar.

The Church Calendar or Christian Year is an annual cycle of seasons that correspond to key events in the life of Christ. Through Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost, Christians for centuries have commemorated Christ's birth, ministry, passion, death, resurrection, and second coming.

The Calendar is a way of keeping and seeing time differently. It's a way of centering our time and activities around Christ. Advent is always the beginning of a new Christian Year. Learn more about the Church Calendar here.

So how do I get started?

KeepingAdvent.com™ was designed to help Christians get started with Advent, Christmas, and the Church Calendar. And if you've already started, we hope the site helps you go deeper. We've designed two resources to bless you in your journey through the seasons:

• Seasonal calendar: Our seasonal calendar has the key dates for the Advent and Christmas seasons, including the special feastdays to enrich your journey. Print it off and hang it on your fridge!

• Family Guide to the Seasons: The Family Guide is a short devotional resource, chronologically arranged, with easy reference to the practices, prayers, Scripture readings, and even musical selections for the days of the seasons. Pull up the web version on your phone or tablet. We also designed a booklet version that can be printed double-sided and folded and stapled down the middle.

Stay tuned!

As Advent approaches and throughout the seasons, follow us here and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more ideas, from crafts to book reviews, to help make the holidays more meaningful and more Christ-centered.