The
season of Advent marks the beginning of the church year. It
begins four Sundays before Christmas Day. (If Christmas Eve
falls on a Sunday, it is considered the Fourth Sunday of Advent
for morning worship and Christmas Eve for late afternoon and
evening worship.) During the season of Advent we hope and we
wait for the Messiah, the One who will come to shine in our
darkness. We listen to the voices of prophets crying out: “Prepare
the way of the Lord!” We wonder at Zechariah’s silence
and Elizabeth’s pregnancy. We overhear the announcements
to Mary and to Joseph from the angels. And we ready ourselves
for the expected coming of an unexpected baby.
All too often the season of Advent and its gentle, quiet anticipation
is drowned out by the Christmas carols blaring over the loud
speakers at the shopping malls, the cha-ching of cash registers,
and the feeling in the pits of our stomachs that we will never
be ready for Christmas. We don’t have enough time or enough
money or enough patience! Our children are hyped up on parties
and presents and letters to Santa. The adults wonder in weariness
if we can get to all the school pageants, Christmas parties,
and extra choir rehearsals.
It is important for us as individuals and as a community of
faith to take a deep breath and stop, even for a moment. Listen
to the hush of expectation. Anticipate a visit from angels.
Respond to the cry of the prophets and prepare—not your
home, your office, or your gifts—prepare your hearts for
the coming of Christ and help prepare the hearts of your children
and youth.
You can have an Advent celebration in your church. This usually
works best on a Sunday afternoon on the First or Second Sunday
of Advent. Invite all ages of members and friends of your church
to join in the fun. Consider having 3–5 centers, taking
into account the number of attendees. If families come, encourage
them to stay together and work together on the various projects.
Divide your group into the number of centers that you have available
so that there is not too much of an overload at any one center.
You can have a center where participants work on an Advent
wreath. The Advent wreath usually has four purple candles and
one white Christ-candle in the center. Begin by using a Styrofoam
ring as the base for your Advent wreath. Place candles equidistant
apart in the base and push them gently into the Styrofoam. Then
decorate around the wreath by gluing artificial greenery and
flowers or berries. Place the large white candle in the center
of the wreath.
Set up another center where participants can make a decorative
wreath to hang on a door. Start with a paper plate with the
center cut out; instruct participants to trace their hands on
green construction paper, cut the paper hands out, and glue
them around the outside of the plate. You can find other great
craft ideas for Advent in the book called Things
to Make & Do for Advent & Christmas (Louisville,
KY: Bridge Resources, 1997).
Plan a center that is mission-oriented. Provide resources
that help individuals and families make decisions about reaching
out to others in this season of hope. You may want to invite
a speaker from the local food pantry, or order Hunger
Program resources that can give people helpful information
about the various hunger programs sponsored by the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.).
To conclude your program, provide some cookies and juice or
some light finger foods and gather everyone together to eat
and sing Advent and Christmas carols. If you have a gifted storyteller
or a puppet group in your congregation, invite them to present
a closing skit.
Through these activities families can prepare their hearts
for Christmas and share great joy when hope is fulfilled in
the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior. |
