The movable festivals of the Church Year present a challenge for a publisher of Sunday School materials. It is difficult to know what the customer is going to encounter in his or her worship service or what they would prefer in the Sunday School lesson that week.
How much should Sunday School try to do with Reformation Sunday or All Saints' Sunday? Do we note these observances in the opening or closing worship times? Incorporate them into the body of the lesson?
Although the hymnal (Lutheran Service Book) recommends marking the principal feasts* only when they fall on Sunday, local custom prevails, and many churches (and our every-Sunday bulletin products at CPH) use the Reformation and All Saints' pericopes on the last Sunday of October and first Sunday of November respectively.
What is your preference? Should we teach a Reformation Sunday School lesson each year?
*Principal feasts generally are those related to related to the life of Christ (Circumcision and Name of Jesus, Purification of Mary and Presentation of our Lord, Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity of John the Baptist, St. Michael's and All Angels, and All Saints' Day).
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