wfn.org | NCC Calls for a Common Easter Date

["Philip Jenks" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

National Council of Churches calls for a common Easter date

New York, March 26, 2010 -- This year Easter, the celebration of the  raising 
of Jesus Christ from the dead, is observed April 4 in all  Christian traditions.
Most years, Easter is celebrated on different dates in western and most  
Orthodox churches because of ancient discrepancies in calculating the  calendar.

Now the National Council of Churches is renewing a call to all  Christians to 
set a common date for the annual celebration of the most  important event in 
Christian history.

In a letter to member communions, NCC General Secretary, the Rev. Dr.  Michael 
Kinnamon, and Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, NCC Senior Program  Director for Faith 
& Order and Interfaith Relations, lamented the fact  that "almost every year 
the Christian community is divided over which  day to proclaim this Good News.  
Our split, based on a dispute having  to do with ancient calendars, visibly 
betrays the message of  reconciliation.  It is a scandal that surely grieves 
our God."

The letter proposes continued movement toward a common Easter date based  on 
the recommendations of the Aleppo Conference of 1997:

- adhere to the decision of the first ecumenical council at Nicea to  celebrate 
Easter on the first Sunday following the first full moon after  the spring 
equinox, thus maintaining the biblical association between  Jesus? death and 
Passover;

- agree to use the most up-to-date scientific methods to analyze the  
astronomical data (which is consistent with Nicea); and,

- use the meridian of Jerusalem (due to its centrality in the Passion of  
Christ) as the point of reference for these calculations.

"This year and next," wrote Kinnamon and Kireopoulos, "may we truly  revel in 
the joy that comes with our united proclamation of the Good  News.  May God 
grant that in 2012 and beyond we may continue to  proclaim with one voice that 
?Christ is risen!?  For he is risen  indeed." 
The full text of the letter can be read below.

See additional comments by Dr. Kireopoulos at  www.ncccusa.org/tkeasterdate.htm.

>***
>March 25, 2010 

>Dear Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ: 

We greet you in the name of the Resurrected One, whose triumph over  death we 
prepare to celebrate on Easter Sunday!  May God grant peace  in our lives, and 
in the life of our broken world, in this holy Paschal  season. 

Easter, of course, is the very heart of our faith as followers of  Christ.  A 
1997 conference in Aleppo, sponsored by the World Council  of Churches and 
including churches from both East and West, said it  well:  ?Viewed as the 
ultimate victory over the powers of sin and  death, the resurrection of the 
Lord is not only an historical event but  a sign of God?s power over all the 
forces which keep us from his love  and goodness.  It is a victory not only for 
Christ himself but also  for all those united with him (I Peter 1:3).  It is a 
victory which  marks the beginning of a new era (John 20:17).  The resurrection 
is  the ultimate expression of the Father?s gift of reconciliation and  unity 
in Christ through the Spirit.  It is a sign of the unity and  reconciliation 
which God wills for the entire creation.?
 
This is Good News indeed!  And yet almost every year the Christian  community 
is divided over which day to proclaim this Good News.  Our  split, based on a 
dispute having to do with ancient calendars, visibly  betrays the message of 
reconciliation.  It is a scandal that surely  grieves our God. 

A common date for Easter has been on the ecumenical agenda since the  1920 
encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.  In  1997, a major 
step toward a common Easter celebration was taken when the  Aleppo conference 
offered three simple yet profound recommendations: 

- adhere to the decision of the first ecumenical council at Nicea to  celebrate 
Easter on the first Sunday following the first full moon after  the spring 
equinox, thus maintaining the biblical association between  Jesus? death and 
Passover;

- agree to use the most up-to-date scientific methods to analyze the  
astronomical data (which is consistent with Nicea); and,

- use the meridian of Jerusalem (due to its centrality in the Passion of  
Christ) as the point of reference for these calculations. 

Adopting this proposal would take lots of education in our churches and  
sensitivity to pastoral concerns?but surely the prospect of a common  witness 
to our Lord?s resurrection makes the effort worthwhile!   This year and next, 
when a coincidence of calendars means that our  churches are celebrating Easter 
on the same day, may be a God-given  opportunity to contemplate how we might 
contribute to the eventual  adoption of the Aleppo recommendations. 
  
The entire Aleppo Report, including a clear articulation of how the  current 
situation came to be, can be found on the NCC website  (www.ncccusa.org).  We 
respectfully invite you to read it carefully  and prayerfully.  We urge you to 
teach about it in your communions,  pray about it in your assemblies, and 
discuss it with other leaders in  your wider church family.  And please be 
prepared to speak about it  together at the September meeting of the NCC 
Governing Board, to  consider, as a Council, how we might most effectively 
encourage common  witness to the resurrection we proclaim. 

This year and next, may we truly revel in the joy that comes with our  united 
proclamation of the Good News.  May God grant that in 2012 and  beyond we may 
continue to proclaim with one voice that ?Christ is  risen!?  For he is risen 
indeed.

Warm regards, 

                                                       Michael Kinnamon, 
General Secretary

Antonios Kireopoulos, Senior Program Director for Faith & Order and  Interfaith 
Relations

For more information, see www.ncccusa.org

The Aleppo report can be found at  
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-commissions/faith-and 
-order-commission/i-unity-the-church-and-its-mission/towards-a-common-dat 
e-for-easter/towards-a-common-date-for-easter.html
 

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office),  646-853-4212 (cell) 
, pjenks@ncccusa.org