James Allen Wildeman

As someone who grew up in a "so-called nonliturgical church, I was confused by my first encounter with the church calendar. I was accustomed to celebrating Easter and Christmas. But Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Septuagesima, and Whitsunday all sounded foreign to me-a proliferation of festivals that could only serve, I thought, to distract believers from the essence of the faith. However, as I became familiar with the church year, I discovered that my initial reaction was wrong.