The basic element of the calendar is Sunday, which is a festival of Jesus’ resurrection. However, Christian Churches have historically observed other festivals which commemorate events in the life of Jesus or of significant individuals in the history of the Church. The purpose of the liturgical calendar is to guide commemorations as a part of the daily worship of the Lutheran Church. There is some variation associated with the observance of the calendar, as each Lutheran Church creates its own calendar and each congregation must choose independently how many individuals will be commemorated within a given year and how many festivals and lesser festivals they will publicly celebrate, especially if they do not coincide with a Sunday.
There are six primary seasons. In between, for American Lutheran Church, there are ‘Special” Sunday celebrations, Christmas, Transfiguration, Palm, Easter, Pentecost, Holy Trinity and Christ the King Sundays. Occassionally, we will celebrate one of the saints (St. Peter and Paul, for example) as a Sunday focus. The purpose is to lead all who worship through a life of faith that covers not only all parts of the Bible, but also to connect more fully with the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus. It is a tradition, that is, a way in which we seek to more fully express the breadth and depth of the Traditional life of the church from ages past to the present.