Lutheran church year

Church year

Our calendar year measures the lapse of time. The church year (ecclesiastical year), on the other hand, reminds us of the history of God’s great works of salvation.

The rhythm and content of worship in the Lutheran church (and many other churches) is based on these works of God that are reviewed during the course of the church year.

Specific readings of the Bible have been assigned to each Sunday and church holiday. From Christmas to Easter we follow the life of Jesus from his birth to his resurrection.

The church year begins with Advent

In the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland the church year follows western tradition, so that the church year begins on the First Sunday in Advent, the Sunday between the 27th of November and the 3rd of December (in the same way as in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches).

The church year is centered on Easter. The last Sunday of the church year (between the 20th and 26th of November) is the Sunday of Christ the King, known in Finland and Sweden as “Judgment Sunday” (not Judgment Day, because that day cannot be marked in a calendar!).

The most important holidays of the church year are

• Christmas (25th of December, joulu in Finnish and jul in Swedish),

• Easter (in March or April, pääsiäinen in Finnish and påsk in Swedish) and

• Pentecost (seven weeks after Easter Day, helluntai in Finnish and pingst in Swedish).

The Finnish calendar is closely tied to the Church Year

In a country like Finland the church year has some effect on the calendar year. The First and Second Days of Christmas (24th. and 25th. of December), New Year’s Day, Epiphany, Good Friday, the Second Day of Easter and Ascension Day are public holidays.

www.evl.fi