Do United Methodist Church members really eat ham during Easter?
score:6
I think you may be confusing the terms a little. There's a simple solution to your question.
Easter is the joyful celebration of Christ's resurrection.
Lent is the forty-day* period leading up to Easter. It is a time of penitence and fasting.
Many Christians observing the Western-style liturgical calendar (this probably includes your friend) fast in some way—often from meat, if possible—during Lent. This fast is broken on Easter, when lots of rich foods are eaten. Ham is a traditional Easter meal in the West.
When you understand this aspect of the calendar, it actually makes a lot of sense to eat meat on Easter.
You can read more about the church calendar at Ken Collins's web site.
(*) You might notice that Lent is actually longer than forty days. The reason for this is a bit detailed and dry, so read only if you're curious!
The week before Easter is referred to as Holy Week; it begins with Palm Sunday (the commemoration of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem). Holy Week contains Maundy Thursday (commemorating the Lord’s Supper) and Good Friday (commemorating the day of Jesus’ crucifixion). As you can imagine, this week is especially sombre and penitential.
In the Eastern church, Holy Week is not considered part of the forty days of Lent; they last forty days beginning from Clean Monday, with the last day on a Friday. The day after this is Lazarus Saturday, followed by Palm Sunday and Holy Week.
In the West, Holy Week got counted as part of Lent. The extra days are accounted for by making Sundays not count as full fasting days. Lent is then two days shorter than in the East, beginning on Ash Wednesday. Not counting Sundays, there are forty days from Ash Wednesday till Easter.
In both traditions, the season of Easter lasts 49 days till Pentecost. Fasting is not encouraged—in fact, it may be generally prohibited, especially in the first week of Easter, which is called Bright Week.
Upvote:0
I grew up in the Methodist church and we were required to make a sacrifice during Lent. It doesn't have to be meat. It doesn't even have to be food. But, it should be a real sacrifice. It's a personal commitment that you make to God. Extra study and prayer is also encouraged.
Upvote:2
This page (Lent 101 from the UMC) gives a guide to Lent from a Methodist perspective. It is very similar to other protestant traditions.
Lent is a time for fasting and prayer, but fasting means different things to different people/denominations.
From the page I linked to above:
FASTING: Some people have been known to go without food for days. But that's not the only way to fast. You can fast by cutting out some of the things in your life that distract you from God. Some Christians use the whole 40 days to fast from candy, tv, soft drinks, cigarettes or meat as a way to purify their bodies and lives. You might skip one meal a day and use that time to pray instead. Or you can give up some activity like worry or reality tv to spend time outside enjoying GodÕs creation. What do you need to let go of or "fast" from in order to focus on God? What clutters your calendar and life? How can you simplify your life in terms of what you eat, wear or do? Some people have been known to go without food for days. But that's not the only way to fast. You can fast by cutting out some of the things in your life that distract you from God. Some Christians use the whole 40 days to fast from candy, tv, soft drinks, cigarettes or meat as a way to purify their bodies and lives. You might skip one meal a day and use that time to pray instead. Or you can give up some activity like worry or reality tv to spend time outside enjoying GodÕs creation. What do you need to let go of or "fast" from in order to focus on God? What clutters your calendar and life? How can you simplify your life in terms of what you eat, wear or do?
With that definition of "fasting" you can give up anything. It's not about just giving up meats. Therefore, there's no reason not to eat Ham during Easter or Lent. For Methodists, as with most Protestant denominations, how we celebrate Easter and lent are a very personal choice, rather than a rigid, prescribed, dictated way of celebrating.
There is no prohibition against eating meat, whether ham or any other kind, so if your classmate ate ham for Easter, it's really nothing to be surprised about.
More post
- 📝 How do Catholics reconcile Christ's intercessory prayer with the doctrine of the Trinity?
- 📝 How can the gospels use omniscient narration?
- 📝 Are there any Christians who reject the canonicity of the whole protestant Bible?
- 📝 According to Jehovah's Witnesses is Jehovah God omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent?
- 📝 Do LDS believe other churches to be the church of Satan?
- 📝 According to premillenial view, What is the point of the Millenium reign?
- 📝 Did Luther really use bar tunes for his hymns?
- 📝 On what basis do some Protestants believe the angel of the Lord is the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ?
- 📝 Do Jehovah's Witnesses believe in annihilation?
- 📝 What is the Catholic view of the rapture?
- 📝 What is temptation?
- 📝 What's a reiki infused rosary?
- 📝 Was Noah and/or his family fully or partially descendant from Cain?
- 📝 According to mainstream Christianity, what happens after one dies?
- 📝 When does a tradition become a Tradition?
- 📝 What is meant by the statement of Our Lady to St. Dominic according to the Catholic Church
- 📝 Is the USA mentioned in the Bible?
- 📝 Is the Church both the Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ?
- 📝 What's the deal with oil?
- 📝 Have cardinals ever been deprived of revenue or rations for taking too long to elect a pope?
- 📝 According to the Bible how does one receive the gift of the Holy Ghost?
- 📝 What were the 45 theologians' theological censures of «Amoris Lætitia»?
- 📝 Does being Protestant imply you are also a Zionist?
- 📝 Was Jesus resurrected after or {within} three days of his death?
- 📝 Does Catholicism have a notion of "the God in me"?
- 📝 How did Matthew know that Hosea 11:1 was about Jesus?
- 📝 Does Revelation 22:19 apply to the whole Biblical canon or only the Book of Revelation?
- 📝 What is the earliest claim that Jesus Christ kept the law of Moses on behalf of others?
- 📝 What arguments do scholars present for historicity of the fall?
- 📝 God was born of Mary - really?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Do United Methodist Church members really eat ham during Easter?
- 📝 What is the position of the United Methodist Church on creationism and evolution
- 📝 Does the Eastern Orthodox Church eat leavened or unleavened bread during the Eucharist?
- 📝 Did Martin Luther really nail his 95 Theses to the church door?
- 📝 Do Catholics eat the substance of the Father during "communion"?
- 📝 When did lay people first get a vote in the general conferences of the United Methodist Church?
- 📝 Why does only one person "teach" during a church meeting?
- 📝 Do any denominations besides the United Church of God commemorate Jesus' death on a Wednesday?
- 📝 Is there any historical evidence that the early church believed in the doctrine of intercession of saints during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD?
- 📝 Is there any historical evidence of Early Church Christians denying the divinity of Jesus during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD?
- 📝 Does the Catholic church believe that God really forgives by confession alone?
- 📝 Can Orthodox Church members be extraordinary ministers in the Roman Catholic rite?
- 📝 How was the church structured during the time of 300 AD - 500 AD?
- 📝 Who has the authority to change the wording of the Lord's Prayer in the Catholic Church in the United States?
- 📝 What is the history of 'The United Church of God'?
- 📝 Was the theory of many extraterrestrial worlds considered blasphemous by the Roman Catholic Church during the 16th century?
- 📝 How do members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints reconcile an unchangeable God with the concept of eternal progression?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church verify whether candidates to the priesthood are really men?
- 📝 Does the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) have a policy regarding admitting members who do not accept its doctrines?
- 📝 Why does God say we shouldn't eat Crab & Pork but Jesus says that doesn't really matter
- 📝 Does Catholic Church acknowledge St. Paul the Apostle as consecrated Bishop during Apostolic times?
- 📝 What were the views of the Church Fathers on Jews and Judaism during the Patristic Era?
- 📝 What were the Laodicean church members supposed to do?
- 📝 What must we do if the vast majority of the members of the Catholic Church here on earth profess heresy and are thus excommunicate?
- 📝 How much money does the Christian Church save because of religious tax exemption in the United States?
- 📝 Wall numbers in German church / during German burial ceremony
- 📝 What does the historical evidence tell us about the pneumatological beliefs of the early Church during the first two centuries of Christianity?
- 📝 Did any Jews have the same canon as Jesus during the time of Christ and did the early church ever quote from it?
- 📝 Is saying "Oh My God" really using God's name in vain?
- 📝 When did the prohibition of marriage for priests in the Catholic church originate?