Since fabrics, such as banners and vestments, have to be some color or the other, the historic Church has taken advantage of this fact and has used color to set the theme of worship. Color usage was more diverse in the past, mainly because dyes were expensive and it wasn’t as easy as it is today to get fabric in any color. In modern times, we’ve developed the following general consensus:
 

Purple

In antiquity, purple dye was very expensive, so purple came to signify wealth, power, and royalty. Therefore purple is the color for the seasons of Advent and Lent, which celebrate the coming of the King. Since as Christians we prepare for our King through reflection and repentance, purple has also become a penitential color.

White

Angels announced Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:8-15) and His Resurrection (Luke 24:1-8). The New Testament consistently uses white to describe angels and the risen Lord (see Matthew 17:2 and 28:3, Mark 9:3 and 16:5, John 20:12, Acts 1:10, and throughout Revelation.) In the ancient Church, people were given white robes as soon as they emerged from the waters of baptism. Therefore, white is the color for the seasons of Easter and Christmas. White is also used for secular holidays that are observed in the church and for funerals, since it is the color of the Resurrection.

Green

You might say that green is the default color. Green is the color of vegetation, therefore it is the color of life. Green is the color for the Season of Epiphany and the Season After Pentecost. These two seasons are also called ‘Ordinary Time’ because the Sundays have no names, just ordinal numbers.

Red

Red is the color of blood, and therefore also of martyrdom. Red is the color for any service that commemorates the death of a martyr. It is also an alternative color for the last week of Lent, which is called Holy Week. Red is the color for Pentecost Sunday and for ordinations, because it is the color of fire and therefore also of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:3).

Black

Before the advent of modern dyes, all dress clothes were black—just look at any photograph taken in the 19th century. The main historical connotation of black is formality. Because we don’t wear black as often today, it has survived as a formal color only at extremely solemn occasions, such as funerals. For some people today, black immediately connotes a funeral. Black is sometimes, but rarely, the color for funeral services or Good Friday.

Rose

Rose is sometimes used on the third Sunday in Advent, to signify joy.

Gold

Gold is an alternative to white.

Blue

Blue is an alternative to purple during Advent. Blue represents the Virgin Mary, because she is known as the Queen of Heaven and the sky is blue. Some churches just use blue during Advent to avoid the penitential connotation of purple.

 
Find the colors for a given year:

If you would like to get a schedule of the colors for the worship services in a specific year, enter a year and select Show Colors:. Use your back button to return

• Hymn
  Technically, a hymn is a song in which the singers praise, worship, or thank God. However, many church songs that are called hymns today are not directed to God at all, but to the congregation (as a testimony), to newcomers (as an invitation), or the congregation even sings to itself (as self-congratulation).

• Offering
• Originally, members of the congregation produced the bread and wine for Communion and presented it to the celebrant in the middle of the worship service, right before the Eucharist. This presentation of the bread and wine is called the offering, because it parallels Jesus’ offering of His flesh and blood for our sin. In the United States, where churches are financed through donations rather than tax money and most of them are in a perpetual state of financial distress, it has become customary to collect donations at this point in the service. Therefore, the term offering has come to refer to the money.
• Paten
• A paten is the small circular plate that holds the Communion bread. It is used with a chalice and is made of the same material as the chalice.

• Procession
• Until quite recently, there were no accurate timepieces, so worship services did not have a precise starting time. After the people gathered, the clergy and other ministers would enter the church in a procession to begin the service. This custom is still continued in most churches today, though in some churches it only survives in the wedding service. The first person in the procession is usually the crucifer, followed by other acolytes who light the candles and carry service books, then the choir, followed by lay ministers and then the clergy, with the highest ranking clergy last.
• Pyx (or Pyxis)
• A pyx (or pyxis) is a storage container for Communion wafers, which is often stored in a tabernacle. There is another type of pyx that is used to hold the ashes for the Ash Wednesday service.

• Readings
• Most churches are faithful to 1 Timothy 4:13 and incorporate the public reading of Holy Scripture in the worship service. Traditionally, there are up to four Bible readings during the Synaxis (the Service of the Word), which are taken from the Sunday lectionary:

  The Old Testament Reading

  The Old Testament Reading is taken from any part of the Old Testament except from the Psalms.

  The Psalm

  The Psalm is either an excerpt from a psalm or an entire psalm. Normally, the congregation participates in the psalm reading, either by reading it responsively or in unison, or by chanting it.

  The Epistle Reading

  The epistle reading is taken from any book in the New Testament other than a gospel. That is, for the purpose of the lectionary, readings from Acts and Revelation are considered epistle readings—with the exception that Orthodox Christians never take readings from Revelation.

  The Gospel Reading

  The gospel reading is an excerpt from Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, just as you would suspect. Pews were invented by Roman Catholicism during the late middle ages for the comfort of the worshipers. Therefore, many congregations continue to stand during the gospel reading to show respect.

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