Ordinary-Time Festivals: An Application of Wisdom Ecclesiology 1

Abstract

Feasts and festivals enliven the Christian life. Given Easter, Christmas and Pentecost cluster around the nineteen weeks of Christmastide and Eastertide, the thirty-three weeks of ordinary time are disconnected from these celebrations. The theological impact is considered in light of Amy Plantinga Pauw's wisdom ecclesiology. For Pauw, the church has largely neglected the ordinary-time dimension of the Christian life. The result is a Christian life disconnected from creaturely existence and God's ongoing work of creation. This article explores the possibility of ordinary-time festivals as a way to embody Pauw's wisdom ecclesiology. A harvest festival in Scotland, a spin and fibre festival in Australia and a local community festival in Aotearoa New Zealand are analysed. These festivals are argued to embody Pauw's themes of making new, longing, giving, suffering, rejoicing and joining hands. Hence, ordinary-time festivals offer ecclesiologically formed ways for the church to embody wisdom ecclesiology. They enable a theological, formed way of joining hands with God's ongoing work in creation during ordinary time.