The Color for the Day

I capitulate.

That leaves the taste of old vinegar in my mouth.

But I give in.  Not give up, but give in.

The paraments, my stole and other appointments in our sanctuary today are green.  It is the color of life.  It symbolizes continuity.  It is the color prescribed by United Methodism (and most of the Christian Church) for ordinary time.  And so, green it is.

You have to understand, that through my childhood and even into the early days of my ministry, The Methodist Church and later The United Methodist Church observed a season of Pentecost that began on Pentecost Sunday and continued through the summer, terminating the last Sunday in August.  Then began the season of Kingdomtide, which carried on to the Sunday prior to the beginning of Advent.  In terms of color, red was the color prescribed for the Season of Pentecost, followed by Green for Kingdomtide.

With the advent of the work of the Consultation on Church Union (COCU) and the liturgical reform movement within United Methodism (which resulted in the issuance of a new Book of Worship in 1992), The UMC discarded the former color scheme and moved to one color – green – for “The Season After Pentecost (United Methodist Kingdomtide)”  With certain exceptions (All Saints’, Reformation Sunday and a couple of others) green is the color of the day.

While the church does not impose these color usages on local congregations (I have been a part of local churches that only had one set of paraments, and therefore only had one color option), this is the accepted denominational “way of doing things.”  I capitulate.  I can no longer in good conscience stand up firmly for the church rubrics with which I am comfortable, or with which I agree, while discarding policy I don’t like.  So green it is.

Green is the color of denominational choice throughout Ordinary Time (so labeled because we count the Sundays with Ordinals rather than with Cardinal Numbers).  So as a sign of my ordination and in symbol of my solidarity with the liturgical practices of my church (with which I do agree on just about every other count), I go green.

Ordinary green.  And that is not a comment on the numbering system.

The peace of the Lord be with you.