Advent is the hope-filled, expectant waiting for the coming of Christ.  Advent, which comes from the Latin adventus, means "coming".  We wait to celebrate what has already happened in history - the birth of Jesus, the Christ - and we wait for what has not yet fully occurred - heaven on earth, which we only glimpse now but which will come to full fruition when Jesus comes again.

The season begins four Sundays before December 25th, when we mark the birth of Christ.  Note that, because we count back from the fixed date of December 25th each year to find the start of the season, the dates for Advent change.  This means those store bought Advent calendars that start on December 1st do not apply!  Often the first Sunday of Advent is the last Sunday in November, but that is not always the case!  A better way to daily mark the days in Advent is to have a Jesse Tree (see below) where the sweep of the biblical story and what God has been up to from Genesis to the birth of Christ is recollected in story, symbol and prayer.

Advent actually began in the church as a time of preparation for the season of Epiphany, the third most important celebration in the early church after the Paschal (Jesus' death and resurrection) and Pentecost.  Epiphany used to include the marking of Jesus' birth, along with the more important marking of his divinity and mission made manifest in the visit of the Magi and especially his baptism.  It would be more than appropriate if our Advent preparations included a view to the season of Epiphany as well as to Christmas.

The colour the church uses for Advent is blue (once purple but now blue to distinguish it from Lent).  Blue is for hope, like the blue that lightens the dark night at the dawning of the day.  Blue is for sorrow, the sorrow of the world that we bring the hope of Advent to bear upon.  Blue is also a colour associated with royalty.

Amongst others, you will find below resources for a candle lighting liturgy for Sundays, suggestions for Jesse Tree stories and symbols and ways to celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas on December 6th.  We pray these resources act as guide for you all in marking a holy Advent, to the glory of God.

Resources for the Christian season of Christmas.

Christmas celebrates the birth of our Lord, Jesus of Nazareth, in Bethlehem. As was foretold by the angel Gabriel, the Virgin Mary gave birth to a son by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Here you will find resources to assist your family in developing deep Christian traditions for the season of Christmas. Our goal is to provide a richer alternative to Santa, elves and consumerism in a way which makes Christmas a wonderful season for Christian families, especially those with children.

Lent is the forty-day period (or season) preceding Easter. It is actually the forty-six days before Easter, but due to the fact that Sundays in this season are not counted the period is 40 days. The traditional reason for this is that fasting was considered inappropriate on Sunday, the day commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus. Easter celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, while Lent is a time of preparation for Holy Week. Holy Week recalls the events preceding and during the crucifixion, which occurred in Jerusalem of the Roman province Judea, circa AD 30.

The forty-day period is symbolic of the forty days spent by Jesus in the wilderness. The number forty has many other Biblical significances: the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai with God; the forty days and nights Elijah spent walking to Mt. Horeb; God makes it rain for forty days and forty nights in the story of Noah; the Hebrew people wandered forty years traveling to the Promised Land; Jonah in his prophecy of judgment gave the city of Nineveh forty days grace in which to repent. Lent is a time of discerning those things which we foolishly might value more than God. Traditionally this can involve fasting, giving to the poor, giving more time for prayer, and other spiritual practices. The season begins with a liturgy of Ash Wednesday where Christians are reminded that it is God's Holy Spirit that empowers all life and that as creatures we are ashes without the animating power of God's love.

With the arrival of Jesus in

Jerusalem on Palm Sunday,

we begin Holy Week, the

highest holy time for Christians.

This is the narrow gate through

which, and only through which,

we can arrive in surprise and joy at

the celebration of the resurrection of

our Lord and Saviour.  It is a week of

high drama and pathos which we best

mark with our fellow Christians

through worship, the washing of feet, the sharing of the Eucharist, the extinguishing

of light.

Holy Week is part

of the season of

Lent.  The colour

for this week

changes though,

from purple to red,

signifying the shift

in the season as 

we enter the time

of Jesus' passion.

Many folks wonder

what the best

ways are for

children to

experience this high, holy time.  If your church takes care to include the children in the

way it marks this time together, then this is the best of all the possibilities.  At home

through this week we engage in a number of practices, including having our traveling

Jesus arrive in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (traveling Jesus), highlighting a story from 

this time on Holy Monday through Holy Wednesday, extinguishing more and more of 

the candles we have been lighting throughout Lent and burying Jesus in his borrowed

tomb on Friday.  See below for more detailed descriptions.

If you hesitate to mark

this week at home or

by having your children

attend your church's

gatherings and worship

during this week, let

me reassure you that

it can be one of the

greatest gifts you can

give to them to do so.

Very young children

may not understand

everything that is

happening in this week but they do want to be a part of what we believe is important

and their presence with us as we move through the events and activities of this week

allows them to do just that.  They are unlikely to be disturbed by the story.  Already

by the age of three

children are having

nightmares - they

know that every-

thing is not right

with the world,

they have likely

glimpsed the

reality of suffering

and they have

their own fears. 

What happens

to Jesus through

this week may not

even surprise them.  What their participation in the week does do is give them the

reassurance that suffering and death are not the end of the story.  That God has

and will triumph. 

We arrive, through the narrow gate of Holy Week, at the day and

the season we celebrate with surprise and joy the resurrection of

Jesus, the Christ, our Lord and Saviour.  This is the highest holy day

of our Christian year without which there would be no other celebrations

and no hope.  The resurrection is given not only its own feast day but

a fifty day season, the longest in the calendar (and each Sunday throughout

the year is considered a mini celebration of Jesus' resurrection, which is why

the Sundays in Lent are not included in the forty day fast). 

Clearly the resurrection is the crux of our life of faith.  Getting clearer about

what Christian belief is regarding the resurrection is an important task for us

as it directly impacts how we live and the nurture of our children.  To this

end we recommend the following resources:

• Evil and the Justice of God  by N.T. Wright (IVP Books, 2006)

• Surprised by HOPE: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the
  

          Mission of the Church  by N.T. Wright (HarperOne, 2008)

• Rev. Dr. Edwin Searcy's Easter Vigil sermon which can be found at

   The gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost prompts and guides the response of the Christian church through this long season of growth in discipleship and service.  The church has been gifted with all that it needs to proclaim and participate in God's mission to and for the world.  We have marked the seasons of Advent through to Pentecost and been reminded once again who and whose we are.  Our life is (further) transformed by this story of what God is up to.  We are freed from fear in all its manifestations, our heart and mind, our will, shaped by the compassion and love of the Trinity.

   The liturgical colour is green, a deeper shade of which can be used to distinguish this season from Epiphany and to hint at the deep maturing in faith we are now called to.  This long season of extraordinary time is an adventure "full of risk and surprise." (Ed Searcy in Keeping Time)