Advent or Christmas
Celebrating Advent was never a big part of the calendar of many Protestant denominations. It’s been catching on in recent years. I probably became more conscious of Advent celebrations about 20 years ago. Since then, it has become my lifeline to Christmas. I’ve grown truly sick and tired of the commercialization of the season, aided of course by Christians who are just as big consumers (if not more so) as ‘the world’. Thus, Advent helped me to recapture the meaning of Christmas and to keep the celebration in proper perspective.
Advent has been largely neglected in Protestant tradition as is many of the celebrations during the Christian calendar year. It is still quite common to see the surprised reaction of members of some Baptist congregations I’ve served when I use words like ‘Liturgical Calendar’ or invite them to focus on Advent and not just Christmas. I see the restless shifting until one brave soul asks the question I knew they were dying to ask, ‘so are we turning into Catholics ?’
Thankfully its not like that everywhere. With the hardworking efforts of some pastors at educating their membership that attitude is changing. Moreover, through the Ecumenical movement and the exposure gained from sharing fellowship with others, we sometimes see the rich traditions of the Church that are being neglected by some sections of the Church. Advent is like that.
Nonetheless for those of you who observe this season in your congregations, or wish to introduce it to bring greater focus to what Christmas is all about then I suggest that you use some Advent resources over the course of 4 weeks of the Advent calendar leading up to Christmas.
The dates of the Advent Calendar 2008 are listed below:
- November 30 – First Sunday of Advent
- December 7 – Second Sunday of Advent
- December 14 – Third Sunday of Advent
- December 21 – Fourth Sunday of Advent
WCC Advent Liturgical Resource 2008
For those of you who use Liturgical resources and have not yet decided on what to do for Advent here is a great resource from the World Council of Churches (WCC). The theme for the Advent resources they are sharing with Christians worldwide is Imagine: Peace.
My worship leaders fell in love with it (as I thought they would). Packed with complete liturgies (patterns and actual content for a complete service), this is a refreshing change for Advent. It brings a Latin American flavour including songs in Spanish. The worship was prepared in Matanzas, Cuba and if you don’t have any hang-ups about Cuba then you should be able to enter into the worship experience with joy. The focus on peace is definitely timely, given how hostile and unfriendly the world has become.
There is still time to change what you were planning to use. Go ahead and download a copy from the WCC website here.
Peace!
Marvia
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