The season of Christmastide continues into January and the festive white and gold remains on the chancel until Epiphany Sunday (the first Sunday in January) when the Magi are added to the creche. (The Feast of Epiphany is January 6.) Epiphany Sunday marks not only the end of Christmastide, but also the end of the Christmas Cycle in which the preparatory season of Advent is signified by the color purple and the celebratory season of Christmastide by white. The first Sunday after Epiphany commemorates the Baptism of the Lord. The chancel is again vested in white, as it would be for baptisms. Successive Sundays until Lent are vested in green. The Sundays after Epiphany are sometimes referred to as Ordinary time, not because they lack significance, but because they are ordered (first, second, third) after a festival day. The green vestments indicates this period is a time for growth in the community of faith, and other symbology may include a baptismal font, water jars reminiscent of the miracle at Cana, and candles for the Transfiguration.
Resource: The United Methodist Book of Worship, 1992, The United Methodist Publishing House, Nashville, TN.
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