National Civic Days and Worship

In some form and measure, many churches desire to include some of the observances from the civil calendar in their worship services. These are not biblical events or occasions related to the liturgical calendar, yet they may be important to some congregations; and it is not difficult to find hymns, songs, and worship resources to aid in these observances.

In an effort to clarify some of these dates and the nature of the celebration or commemoration, here is a partial listing of the major ones:

• Armed Forces Day -- Third Saturday in May; day set aside to honor and celebrate those currently serving in the U.S. armed forces.
• Memorial Day -- Last Monday of May; commemorates US men and women who died while in the Armed Forces; formerly Decoration Day, after the practice of placing flags on the graves of veterans.
• Veterans Day -- Holiday honoring military veterans, November 11; formerly Armistice Day, observing the formal end of World War I.
• Independence Day -- July 4; commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776), and U.S. independence from Great Britain.
• Patriot Day -- September 11; remembering the 2,993 who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001; originally named "Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims of the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001"; not to be confused with . . .
• . . . Patriots' Day -- Third Monday in April; primarily observed in New England, commemorating the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolution, 1776.