Thank you for your coverage of Alabama Baptist churches observing Lent, one season in the Christian year.
Most Christians do observe some of the days and seasons of the Christian year: Good Friday, Easter and Christmas.
It is good for Baptists to embrace theological traditions transcending culture, tradition and time.
The Christian year developed in the early centuries of the church as a sort of experiential curriculum design guiding Christians through the calendar year.
The Christian year begins with Advent, preparing us for Christ’s coming.
The 12 Days of Christmas celebrate the incarnation of God. Christmas gives way to Epiphany, focusing on the implications of Christ’s authority in our lives.
Lent calls us to pursue confession and repentance, preparing us for Easter. Pentecost calls us to remember the role of the Spirit in the church, and Kingdomtide emphasizes the role of the church in the world, for the sake of God’s kingdom. These seasons guide us to a new Advent.
Today people are pulled in many directions and expected to express allegiance to diverse causes. The Christian year provides a rhythm to life, proclaims New Testament theological themes and focuses congregational life and energy on the person and the ministry of Christ.
Some Baptist congregations will observe more days and seasons of the Christian year than others. Yet as Baptists, we affirm the principle of congregational autonomy.
Let us continue to fulfill the mission of God, allowing each body of believers to express their faith freely, through obedience to the indwelling Christ.
Dennis W. Foust
Birmingham, Ala.
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