Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church
For Immediate Release
April 3, 2024
Easter Message 2024: Join in 50 days of celebration for our resurrected Lord
In the course of a normal cycle of the church year, we frequently refer to the Forty Days of Lent, a time of repentance, reflection and self-examination. But seldom do we give equal importance to the Fifty Days of Easter. Easter is seen more as a single day, a culmination of the journey through Lent. It is associated with higher-than-normal attendance in our churches, pomp, procession, and Easter lilies that are taken home before they fade.
Whatever happened to the Fifty Days of Easter?
In the book, This Day: A Wesleyan Way of Prayer, Laurence Hull Stookey described these fifty days, embracing Sundays, between Easter Sunday and Pentecost. Dr. Stookey says, “In the ancient church both fasting and kneeling were forbidden as they were considered inappropriate for this season, and alleluias (banished from the liturgy throughout Lent) abounded as they still do in our Easter hymns.” (pg. 124) In fact, Dr. Stookey reminds us that Charles Wesley’s great hymn, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” has two dozen alleluias.
Two dozen alleluias! If that’s enough for one Sunday hymn, can you imagine with me what a season with dozens of alleluias might look like?
Someone might quickly remind me that this year, in between Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday, is General Conference. And someone may remind me as well that many previous General Conferences have seen more days of chaos and agony than days of alleluia and rejoicing.
And yet, an Easter faith, our Easter faith, challenges us to believe that resurrection and new life in Christ is always available and always present for those who believe, even those who doubt before they begin to believe. And who knows, resurrection and new life just might even break out in a church meeting if we anticipate and believe that it can happen!
This Easter season, I choose to sing songs with alleluias attached and I invite you to join me in the glorious chorus of joy, celebration, and anticipation of a resurrected life and a resurrected church. As Dr. Stookey says, the resurrection of Jesus “is not some psychological trick of wish fulfillment, as our current culture may be inclined to believe. The Resurrection is the manifestation of a new kind and quality of life, which we have no words to describe. If we think we can understand it, we do not understand it at all. For resurrection is the sublime, mysterious gift of God, which we are to experience as both astounding and transforming.” (pg. 124-125)
There is a lot on the horizon these next fifty days. But in the midst of conferencing, appointment-making, and the ongoing fulfillment of mission and vision on all levels of our church, let us not forget that this is a season to work for a new kind of church and a new commitment to life in Jesus Christ, our resurrected Lord. That deserves a break out of joy and a shout of alleluia.
Frankly, it deserves dozens of them.
Happy Easter!
Thomas J. Bickerton
President, Council of Bishops - The United Methodist Church
Resident Bishop, New York Annual Conference
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