How to Reorient Your Year Around God: Celebrating the Church Calendar | S2E10

[@sayhello5377]

New here, and I’m glad I stumbled upon this video. I’m a 37 year old Christian woman and grew up very Baptist. My dad was a Baptist pastor and I went to Liberty University. My dad *hated* tradition, absolutely hated it. He believed that unless something was spelled out in Scripture, it was man made and therefore completely invalid. (He left the church in 2010 after having an affair and embezzling church money, so it’s not like I value any of his religious teachings BTW.) As an adult, I’ve always gone to nondenominational churches. I’m married and have two kids (5 and 1). Since Covid started, I have felt like something is hugely missing from my walk with God, and specifically from my church experience. Week after week, I’d go to church and leave completely unfulfilled. I wasn’t learning anything new. I wasn’t being challenged. I’d walk into a dark sanctuary, sit through a rock concert where everyone else was swaying and jumping up and down and having these emotional experiences, followed by a message where the pastor cherry picked Bible verses to fit into their feel-good sermon. Everyone left on their merry way and had nothing to do with each other until the next Sunday. There were no other services, infrequent small groups, no service opportunities, nothing. And this wasn’t just one church. This was every church I went to. A while back, I started watching Matt Whitman’s channel, where he visits churches of different traditions (Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, Lutheran, and others), and they walk him through what a typical service looks like and then they talk theology and traditions. So interesting. But that made me realize that everything I’ve known about Christianity and church was through the lens of the Baptist and evangelical churches and university I’ve attended. I *never* learned about the church calendar or church history or why other churches do things differently, apart from being told how wrong they were. One common thread I’ve seen in many of these videos, which has resonated with me, is the importance of tradition. As I said, my dad and Baptists in general, tend to be against religious traditions, seeing them as sort of “added to the Gospel.” But, I see so much beauty in it. I see value in the reminders of what we believe and why and who we’re serving. I see value in repetition and tradition. I see benefits to having a strong sense of community and fellowship with one another. I’m so done with this “show up 5 minutes late to the concert and bolt the second it’s over” version of church. I’m still figuring things out and figuring out where I belong. Anyway, thank you for this informative video.

[@amorebeautifullifecollective]

I totally agree! I think these traditions provide the structure to cultivate your faith deeply. It helps to marry your everyday life with your faith. I'm so glad you're here, and thank you for listening!

[@debras3806]

Good thoughts! One recommendation: Excise the “yet” at 7:09 (from your thoughts)…ie recognize that not all marry, so single people are not “not married YET”; we are “not married.” This is important for recognizing and treating us as real adults, real Christians, true and regular people…not half-baked “almost there” overgrown teenagers;).

[@amorebeautifullifecollective]

Very good point! I totally agree! I just think that many young adults are postponing creating their own traditions until they have a family. If you are not married, cultivating these traditions is still so important!

[@hanng1242]

If one is interested in living in accordance with a liturgical calendar, one might be interested in Maria Von Trapp's "Around the Year with the Von Trapp Family." She was prompted to write it because the sense of liturgical time that was normal in her native Austria was absent when she and her family escaped to the United States. The book is currently in print and available on Amazon. It was written after the significant alterations to Holy Week under Pope Pius XII but before the rather more revolutionary changes following the Second Vatican Council, but since it is about Christian culture within the home rather than liturgical minutiae, I assume it is still applicable for Western Christians interested in their own tradition.

[@amorebeautifullifecollective]

How interesting! I’ll have to check that one out!