What is Pentecost?

Falling 50 days after Easter, Pentecost is known as the birthday of the Christian church–the fulfillment of Jesus’s promise to send the Holy Spirit to his followers as their helper and guide. The Book of Acts describes how the Spirit’s presence covered the disciples, who began to speak in diverse languages (or “tongues”). As the Rev. Jorge Ortiz explains, Pentecost invites us to open our hearts to God and to proclaim the good news of Jesus’s resurrection to the world.