Do United Methodist Church members really eat ham during Easter? Do United Methodist Church members really eat ham during Easter?

I knew a classmate who was Methodist. She told me that she ate ham during Easter. Is this a Methodist church tradition? Are Methodists allowed to eat meat during Easter or Lenten season?
I think you may be confusing the terms a little. There's a simple solution to your question.

Easter is the joyful celebration of Christ's resurrection.

Lent is the forty-day* period leading up to Easter. It is a time of penitence and fasting.

Many Christians observing the Western-style liturgical calendar (this probably includes your friend) fast in some way—often from meat, if possible—during Lent. This fast is broken on Easter, when lots of rich foods are eaten. Ham is a traditional Easter meal in the West.

When you understand this aspect of the calendar, it actually makes a lot of sense to eat meat on Easter.

You can read more about the church calendar at Ken Collins's web site.



(*) You might notice that Lent is actually longer than forty days. The reason for this is a bit detailed and dry, so read only if you're curious!

The week before Easter is referred to as Holy Week; it begins with Palm Sunday (the commemoration of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem). Holy Week contains Maundy Thursday (commemorating the Lord’s Supper) and Good Friday (commemorating the day of Jesus’ crucifixion). As you can imagine, this week is especially sombre and penitential.

In the Eastern church, Holy Week is not considered part of the forty days of Lent; they last forty days beginning from Clean Monday, with the last day on a Friday. The day after this is Lazarus Saturday, followed by Palm Sunday and Holy Week.

In the West, Holy Week got counted as part of Lent. The extra days are accounted for by making Sundays not count as full fasting days. Lent is then two days shorter than in the East, beginning on Ash Wednesday. Not counting Sundays, there are forty days from Ash Wednesday till Easter.

In both traditions, the season of Easter lasts 49 days till Pentecost. Fasting is not encouraged—in fact, it may be generally prohibited, especially in the first week of Easter, which is called Bright Week.