Mothers Day - 21 days before Easter Sunday

This is always on the fourth Sunday during Lent, and is now a day set aside to remember, thank and celebrate mothers. Origianlly, in England, it was a day for people to attend their "mother church", ie. the biggest church or cathedral in the area. The local parish church that people normally attended was known as the "daughter church".

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Ash Wednesday - 46 days before Easter Sunday

On Ash Wednesday many traditional churches have an 'Ashing service' where Ash made from the previous year's palms are sprinkled with holy water and fumigated with incense and symbolically placed on the forehead in the sign of a cross, signifying penance. It is also a reminder of our own mortality: Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and of a time when people repented with ashes and wearing sackcloth

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Shrove Tuesday / Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") / "Pancake Day" - 47 days before Easter Sunday

This is the last day before Lent. "Shrove" means to 'have heard confession, assigned penance and absolved'. From the Middle Ages until the late Renaissance, eating all animal products except fish (which were considered bloodless) was forbidden during Lent. In more modern times the Lenten fast was confined to Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent, and abstinence from meat did not include other animal products (eggs, milk and cheese, for example). Therefore on Shrove Tuesday people made pancakes to use up their supplies of eggs, milk, butter and other fats. These cakes were made in flat pans (hence pancakes) and were seen as a sign of self-indulgence before the fast!

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

These days Christians sometimes give up chocolate or alcohol for Lent rather than whole food groups! But the aim is the same; it's about denying yourself something you want, and instead focusing the energy of that desire on God.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

What is Lent? Lent, a Teutonic word originally meaning 'the spring season', has been celebrated for at least 1500 years. It is a time of self-examination and repentance and corresponds to the 40 days and 40 nights Jesus spent in the wilderness, coming to an end on Easter Eve, counting inclusively. Sundays are for 'joyful celebration' and not days of 'discipline and self-denial' and so are not officially part of the fasting of Lent.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

However, after several decades of making a conscious effort to separate themselves from things which are merely "tradition", and not specifically Biblical, many evangelical churches are coming round to the idea that these traditional ceremonies are not without merit. Some are being re-introduced into independent churches and traditional churches, in a slightly revised fashion focusing on doing something pro-active to help others during Lent as a constructive way of not focusing on our selfs, eg the "Buy Less" "credit card".

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Pancake Day to Pentecost

The holy days of the seven weeks of Easter observances that the traditional churches still follow were made up during the fourth century AD. Some independent evangelical churches, like Richmond Park Church, choose not to stringently follow traditions that were made up by the fourth century church, but which are not spelled out in the Bible. There is nothing inherently wrong with these traditions, if they are designed to point people in the direction of the example and life of Jesus, but neither is it compulsory to observe these created "holy days" to be a faithful Christian.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Read about Easter Traditions

[A full list of sources used to compile this article can be found under Links - Acknowledgements for Easter information]

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

What is "The Passion"?

Easter, and the events in the life of Jesus leading up to Easter, have also been called "The Passion (of Christ)"; this is from Saint Luke's description in the Bible of the apperance of Jesus to his disciples after his resurrection: "he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs" (Acts 1:3). The word "passion" was used in Latin and in old English translations of the book of Acts (originally written in Greek) whereas in modern English we would say "suffering". - see also Easter Traditions - "Passion Plays".

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

However, after several decades of making a conscious effort to separate themselves from things which are merely "tradition", and not specifically Biblical, many evangelical churches are coming round to the idea that these traditional ceremonies are not without merit. Some are being re-introduced into independent churches and traditional churches, in a slightly revised fashion focusing on doing something pro-active to help others during Lent as a constructive way of not focusing on our selfs, eg the "Buy Less" "credit card".

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

All the other holy days of the seven weeks of Easter observances that the traditional churches still follow were made up during the fourth century AD. Some independent evangelical churches, like Richmond Park Church, choose not to stringently follow traditions that were made up by the fourth century church, but which are not spelled out in the Bible. There is nothing inherently wrong with these traditions, as they are all designed to point people in the direction of the example and life of Jesus, but neither is it compulsory to observe these created "holy days" to be a faithful Christian.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

At a meeting of church leaders -called the Council of Nicaea- in 325 AD to try to coordinate practise it was decided that Easter was to be celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon that directly followed the Vernal (or Spring) Equinox. In most years this would coincide with Passover, but it would not always be so. The Eastern Churches still retained the earlier Passover practice for several centuries, and the British (Celtic) Church did not adopt the Roman calendar until Roman missionaries arrived in the sixth century.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

From Passover to Easter

You won't find any references about how to celebrate Easter in the Bible! The Bible only instructs us to observe communion in rememberance of Jesus death, and we don't know how the early Christians chose to commemorate the resurrection. We do know that by the second century AD some Christians were celebrating it Passover-style (mainly the Eastern church), and some celebrated on the Sunday after Passover as a distinctly seperate event (mainly the Roman church).

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Some Christians, particularly Messianic Jews (ie. Jews who have become Christians), celebrate "Easter" by observing the actual Passover meal ("the Seder" or "Haggadah" or "Last Supper"), drawing out the references to Jesus in this Old Testament festival.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

3) The First Fruits. The resurrection of Jesus happened as the priests were presenting an offering of the first sheaf of the newly ripened barley harvest. Jesus was the first fruits from the grave.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

2) The Four Cups. In the Passover there are four cups of wine to drink, two before the meal and two after the meal. These are to remember the events of Exodus 6:6-7: I will bring you out; I will free you; I will redeem you; and I will take you as my people. These are things Jesus also promised.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

1) The Lamb. Jesus chose to be the lamb without defect that was sacrificed for our sins, in the same way that the Israelites had had to kill a lamb per family for God to save their lives (1Corinthians 5:7).

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

It is not a coincidence that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus happened at the same time as Passover. The festivals in the Old Testament (that Jewish people still observe today) were both celebrations of how God had helped the Israelites and pictures of what Jesus was going to do. Parallels between Passover and Jesus include:

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

What is Passover and what has it got to do with Easter?

The Jewish celebration of Passover, or "Pesach" in Hebrew, was started about 1200 years before Jesus. The origins and form of this festival are described in the Bible, in chapter 12 of the book of Exodus. It is from when Moses was asking the Pharaoh to let the Jews -who were at that time slaves- leave Egypt, and because Pharaoh kept refusing, God punished the Egyptians by killing all their first born sons. The Jewish families were kept safe by daubing lamb's blood on their door-posts - when God saw this blood he "passed over" those homes.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

It is unhelpful that the anniversary of the resurrection of Jesus is commonly known as "Easter", a name derived from a pagan god. A more appropriate name might be the "Christian Passover". Many other modern languages derive their name for Easter from the Latin pascha, in turn taken from the Hebrew pesach or Passover, eg the French "Paques", the Spanish "Pascua" and the Italian "Pasqua". This acknowledges that the Christian feast is a successor to the Jewish Passover.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Why is it called "Easter"?

Long before Jesus, many pagan cultures already celebrated at this time of year to welcome the return of spring and the new plant life that grew and the animals that were born. The pagans worshipped gods of fertility and new life, such as the Druidic Ishtar, Egyptian Osiris, Babylonian Astarte (who sprung from an egg which fell from heaven), and the Saxon goddess of dawn with a hare's head (or hare companion) called Eostre, from which we get the name "Easter".

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

"Without the feeding of the five thousand or the walking on water, we'd still have Christianity. But without the resurrection, it would be just a minor cult in first-century Judaism." (Michael Symmons Roberts, "The Miracles of Jesus" )

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

History records show that Jesus was crucified outside of the city of Jerusalem in around 33AD, just before the Jewish festival of Passover. He was executed after Jewish religious leaders accused him of being a would-be revolutionary who wanted to overturn Roman rule. But Christians believe that God planned for this to happen and that in the spiritual realm the death, and then resurrection, of Jesus was necessary to conquer sin and enable believers to live a life guided by God's forgiveness and Holy Spirit.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

More on the origins of Easter

Easter is the spring-time holiday associated with chocolate eggs and bunny rabbits. For Christians it is the anniversary and celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Spring Flowers

A pagan sign of re-birth and new life, spring flowers were said to be a reminder of the new life we have with Jesus.

[A full list of sources used to compile this article can be found under Links - Acknowledgements for Easter information]

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Passion Plays

In the Middle Ages "Passion Plays" were put on to re-enact the story of Easter, in the same way as we have nativity plays to re-enact the Christmas story. Passion Plays are still enacted today in Spain and Latin America, but are not common in Britain, except for the tradition of Good Friday processions, which used to be part of the plays. Having said that, two noticeable modern examples are the controversial 2004 Mel Gibson movie "The Passion of the Christ" and the Manchester Passion, televised in 2006.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Mardi Gras / Carnival Season

Mardi Gras, French for "Fat Tuesday", is what we know as Shrove Tueday, or "Pancake Day" -for more on the different days of the Easter season see Traditional Church's Easter Calendar. Historically the fast during Lent, which starts the day after Shrove Tuesday, meant eating no "luxury" foods such as meat or dairy products -"Carnival" from the Latin "carnivale", loosely translates as "farewell to flesh"- so the day before this restrictive diet started people would feast and eat up all the eggs and meat. In New Orleans, the feast of the Epiphany (6th January) until midnight on Mardi Gras is a season of merriment, culminating in the biggest carnival. see . In South America, canival season is for four days ending in Mardi Gras.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Hot Cross Buns

The origin of hot cross buns date back to the fertility festivals when an ox was sacrificed. The ox's horns became a symbol for the feast and they were carved into the freshly leavened ritual bread. The word "buns" is derived from the Saxon word "boun" which means "sacred ox".The cross on hot cross buns became the cross of Jesus.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Easter Parades and Easter Bonnets

Easter bonnets have been around since the Middle Ages when it was the custom to take a long walk after church on Easter Sunday, while wearing new clothes to symbolize the start of spring. The tradition grew to include a straw Easter bonnet adorned with ribbons and flowers. This led to the American custom of Easter parades all over the country, including the famous parade along Fifth Avenue in New York City (like in the 1948 Judy Garland movie "Easter Parade"!).

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Egg Rolling

In come countries, eg Germany and America, children roll eggs down hills on Easter morning, a game which has been connected to the rolling away of the rock from Jesus Christ's tomb when he was resurrected. British settlers brought this custom to the New World.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.

Easter Chicks

These emerge from the eggs the hare/rabbit brings! A pagan symbol of re-birth, Christianised as re-birth in Jesus or the chick breaking through the egg shell as a picture of Jesus emerging from the tomb.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK.