Christians prepare to celebrate the church's birth
While not as prominent as Christmas or Easter, Pentecost is among the faith's most significant holidays and the focus of global prayer.
By K. Connie Kang, Times Staff Writer
May 26, 2007

Sunday is Pentecost, the most important day in the Christian calendar after Easter and Christmas.

Unlike those two well-known holidays, Pentecost — commemorating the arrival of the Holy Spirit — is not widely observed, even by many Christians.

"How do you wish anybody a happy Pentecost?" asked the Rev. Eddie Gibbs, professor of church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary and an Episcopal priest in Pasadena. "They have Christmas cards galore, Easter cards to some extent. But Pentecost cards?"

Still, for hundreds of millions of believers around the world, Pentecost will be celebrated with praise and worship and an anticipation of the Holy Spirit to fall afresh on them. The Holy Spirit is central to the concept of a "triune God," the Christian doctrine of one God in three persons — the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. It is one of the profound mysteries of Christianity. the rest