What do you do when the Season after Epiphany is so brief?

The Season after Epiphany is about as brief as it can be in 2027. This is because Easter is close to as early as can be (March 28), which means Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 10.
 
This leaves only three Sundays between the "bracket Sundays" of Baptism of the Lord (January 10) and Transfiguration (February 7). 

What can you do with a season of just three Sundays?

It's not really enough to develop a sermon series. 

But is is enough to give intense focus to at least one of the major purposes of this season: evangelism and invitation to discipleship.

This year (Year B) the first two weeks focus on Jesus calling disciples to come and see (week 1) and follow him (week 2). Before these three weeks start, begin asking people in your church to make intentional efforts to invite people they know who are not part of a faith community to be with them in church for these Sundays. Emphasize that these invitations should be one on one-- in person, in a phone conversation, via text, or via direct messaging. This is how Jesus did called his disciples. And decades of research show that being invited to worship by a layperson you personally know-- not a pastor-- is by far the most effective means of getting people to attend a church for the first time. 

The third week focuses on the story of Jesus casting out a demon from someone in a synagogue. This text invites everyone present to consider what inside of them is crying out for healing and release. This would be a good Sunday to offer a service of healing, using the resources of The United Methodist Book of Worship. Deacons and pastors, if you have therapists you refer folks to, or a relationship with a pastoral counseling center, you may want to include referrals in your bulletin, slides, online presentation, or other worship materials, as well as plan to have as clear a schedule as possible for meeting one on one with folks during the coming week. 

The personal invitations followed by the personal impacts of these services, especially the third, set up Transfiguration Sunday as a time for an explicit invitation to be part of a process of exploration of baptism and Christian discipleship during Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday. The readings for Lent from the Revised Common Lectionary each year connect directly to the baptismal vows of many denominations, including those of The United Methodist Church. 

So, short as this year's first "Green Season" may be, it may still be a powerful means of helping your local church fulfill its mission "to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world."   

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Burton Edwards is Lead for Ask The UMC, the information service of United Methodist Communications, and pastor of St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Church, Columbus, GA.