Every pastor and worship planner knows the challenge of keeping Advent in church. As the malls are blaring Christmas music and everyone is having Christmas parties, as the Christmas lights come out at Thanksgiving and everyone dons special Christmas clothes, somehow we are supposed to restrain ourselves from celebrating the coming of the Christ child until Christmas Eve. Why are we supposed to do this? And how is it possible?

Let’s begin with why. Christmas is the time to celebrate the coming of the Light into the world. It is the time to proclaim with joy the birth of the Savior of the Nations. It is the time to shout out “unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” But how can we appreciate the magnitude of this gift if we have not spent some time meditating on the darkness, on our need for a Savior, on our longing for peace?

Advent gives us the time to reflect on just how much our world waits with eager longing for the coming of the Messiah. As we gather on these Sundays, we are stepping toward the darkest days and longest nights of winter. Amid this gathering darkness, we hear the prophets cry out, “In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land” (Jer. 33:15, read on the first Sunday of Advent this year). “But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?” (Mal. 3:2, read on the second Sunday of Advent). Only when we encounter the world’s ache for salvation will we be able to celebrate with joy the birth of the unlikely baby Savior.

During Advent, our worship should cultivate a sense of mystery and anticipation of the coming Light. How do we do this? Here are a few suggestions:

• Echo the ancient word “Maranatha!” This cry of the earliest church has a double meaning: both “Our Lord has come” and “Come, our Lord!” This one word captures our situation of memory and hope: we remember the coming of the Messiah, and yet we pray for his coming again. Use “Maranatha” at both the beginning and end of worship during Advent. It can be spoken or sung to a simple, haunting chant tone.
• Save Christmas carols until Christmas Eve. Undoubtedly this is the most difficult part of keeping Advent in church. We know very few Advent songs, and we know many more Christmas carols than we have Sundays to sing them. In order to keep Christmas music out of Advent, worshipers will need to have ample opportunity to sing them during Christmas (see “The Twelve Days of Christmas?,” pg.14 of the printed magazine). Take the opportunity to learn new Advent songs this year; twenty such hymns are found in The Presbyterian Hymnal, and there are selections in other parts of the hymnal that work well during this season:

  Psalm 24 (PH #176 and #177). This psalm, which celebrates the coming of the “King of glory,” captures the mood of excited anticipation of the one who comes to deliver us.

  Psalm 42 (PH #190). This familiar psalm repeats the question, “When shall I see God face to face?”—an appropriate sentiment for Advent. Another setting of the psalm, but without the persistent questioning of the refrain in #190, is PH #189.

  “O Day of Peace” (PH #450). This hymn, based on Isaiah 11, expresses the prophetic assurance that war will one day give way to peace.

  You might teach a new Advent hymn to the children first and invite them to teach it to the congregation. “Creator of the Stars of Night” (PH #4) is a simple chant melody that children can easily learn.

• Consider having evening services during Advent. If you do not already have Sunday evening worship services, these four weeks provide a good opportunity to introduce evening prayer. The evening setting of gathering darkness evokes particularly well the symbolism of the world’s darkness and the coming Light of Christ. These services also give you other opportunities to practice the new Advent hymns you have been learning.

• Rediscover the ancient “O Antiphons.” Since at least the ninth century, the Western church has sung these at evening prayer during the last week of Advent. They are called “O Antiphons” because each simple verse begins with “O.” Each addresses the Son using a scriptural title:

  O Wisdom . . . (Prov. 8:22)
  O Adonai . . . (Exod. 20:2)
  O Root of Jesse . . . (Isa. 11:1, 10)
  O Key of David . . . (Isa. 22:22)
  O Radiant Dawn . . . (Zech. 6:12)
  O Ruler of the Nations . . . (Hag. 2:8)
  O Immanuel . . . (Isa. 7:14)

  “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” is a later adaptation of the “O Antiphons.” You could use these in a variety of ways during the Sundays of Advent if you do not have evening prayer. For instance, introduce two antiphons on each of the first three Sundays, adding the final “O Immanuel” on the fourth Sunday of Advent until you are reciting or singing together the full set of antiphons. Different groups in the church might help introduce the antiphons: the adult choir, children’s choir, or children’s Sunday school class. The complete text of the antiphons can be found in the Book of Common Worship, pp. 166–167.

• Decorate the worship space very simply during this season. Let the Advent wreath with its growing light be the primary symbol. Save poinsettias until Christmas Eve. For specific ideas on the Advent wreath, click here to see Ideas! magazine, vol. 2, issue 2, p. 11.

• Construct banners that use symbols of the season. A Sunday school class might take this on as a project for the Sundays leading up to and including Advent. Reflect on the lectionary texts for each week and draw out central symbols from those texts. As an alternative, select four images from the “O Antiphons” and use those as the central symbols on the banners. This will work particularly well if you sing the same “O Antiphon” during worship that you represent on each week’s banner.

• Set aside time outside of worship to teach and practice Christmas carols. This serves two purposes: it provides an outlet for singing these favorite holiday songs, and it gives an opportunity to learn new carols or hymns outside of worship. Time might be set aside at the beginning of the Sunday school hour (if you have Sunday school at a time separate from worship), during fellowship time after worship, or during a separate workshop on a time other than Sunday morning.

For more information, contact David Gambrell, Associate for Worship, Office of Theology and Worship, at (888) 728-7228, ext. 5311.