Seasons and cycles

As each calendar year progresses, we mark time with hours, days, weeks and months. In our diocese we are blessed to experience all four seasons of nature, marking time as winter opens into spring, then summer and fall before the cycle begins again. The recurring seasons of nature provide a sense of deep, primal reassurance in a way months of the year and hours of the day cannot always offer.

The Anglican tradition contains a way of marking time which is somewhere between the natural seasons and hours of the clock. Observing the cycle of the Church’s Year (often called the liturgical year) is a profoundly reassuring way to mark time. From the first Sunday of Advent to Christ the King Sunday, the Church Year holds seasons and days that draw us to the very heart of our faith in Christ, inviting us to recall and celebrate all that God revealed and promised to us through the Incarnation, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus, and the giving of the Holy Spirit.

I strongly encourage clergy and parishes to pay careful attention to shaping the liturgy for each part of the Church Year, so the Sundays and Holy Days within each season are clearly distinguished—creating an annual cycle that becomes as familiar and reassuring as the seasons of nature. Seasonal liturgical notes, prepared by the Bishop’s Liturgical Advisory Panel, have been authorized to assist parish clergy and worship planners by providing a blend of directives, suggested guidelines, and encouragement to exercise appropriate creativity as we observe the Church Year as a diocesan church. The notes may be found in the “For Parishes” section of our diocesan website.

In December, our Diocesan Council approved the adoption of a different kind of cycle—a strategic triennial cycle designed to ensure that we remain attentive and responsive to what God is calling us to do as we move through the temporal tasks of planning and budgeting. Some time ago, we decided to approve a new budget every three years, and we saw this as practical and helpful. Moving forward, we will locate the setting of our budget within a clearly defined and strategic triennial cycle, as shown in the graphic accompanying this column.

In recent years, we have learned how to listen well to one another and to the Holy Spirit as we discern the mind of Christ and build consensus around what we are called to do. This is the starting point for each new triennium. From there, our triennial cycle will involve working to achieve agreed-to results, evaluating our efforts, discerning and agreeing to new priorities, and budgeting to achieve new results in the next triennium. I look forward to working with Diocesan Council to fully implement our new triennial cycle.

As we move into the second year of the current 2024-2026 triennium, focused on our agreed-upon priorities, our Learning Commons will come into its full strength—offering training, learning opportunities, modules, resources, and networks to help us have healthy, thriving parishes that are well-equipped to serve. I pray that each parish will actively embrace and participate in the offerings of the Learning Commons as we seek to move faithfully through both the eternal seasons of our Church Year and the practical segments of our new triennial cycle.