The Season after Pentecost is called Ordinary Time or Kingdomtide. During this time the Church considers the overarching theme of salvation history, the need for diligence in Christian discipleship, and focuses on the advance of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth. This is the longest season in the Church’s calendar, having from twenty-three to twenty-eight Sundays, and lasting until Advent. During this time we, as believers and congregations, focus on the Church’s maturity and multiplication and emphasize Christ’s headship and the power of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of the apostles and through the body of Christ.

The phrase Ordinary Time ought not to be interpreted as “unimportant time.” Rather, it should be understood in the sense of “counted or numbered days,” i.e., like “ordinal”numbers – fi rst, second, third. This has to do with the numbered Sundays of the year outside of the special seasons in the two cycles. These “ordinary” Sundays tend to emphasize Jesus’ earthly life and ministry (in the fi rst group of Ordinary Time between Epiphany and Lent), and his headship, harvest, and vigilance in light of Christ as our hope, and our remembering the saints through the ages and looking forward to the Reign of Christ. (in the larger group of Sundays in the second).