Advent is a time of preparation and expectation for the coming celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas.
Advent is the first season of the church year; it begins with the fourth Sunday before Christmas and continues through the day before Christmas. The first day of Advent 2024 is Sunday December 1st. Christmas Day is December 25th and is a “principal feast” day in The Episcopal Church. The Christmas season lasts twelve days, from Christmas Day until Jan. 5, the day before the Epiphany.
For a list of Blue Christmas services in Iowa, visit our Behavioral Ministry Health Team’s webpage.
Bishop Monnot invites us into the season of Advent.
Daily Advent Practices
an inspirational online Advent calendar featuring a daily prompt word selected from the Sunday Lectionary readings.
from Rev. Susan Forshey at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Dubuque. Ideas for each day for living joyfully for the forty days of Celtic Advent & the twelve days of Christmas.
and daily email devotions with scripture selections based on the theme of “hope.” Devotions by Rev. Merry Watters and design & poem by Rev. Thomas Mousin.
from 1000 Hours Outside. May be helpful to bring a creation care focus to your Advent practice. (from 2023, but fillable space so you can add in the dates)
from The Episcopal Church. Includes prompts for reflection and conversation. Could pair with their Advent Curriculum or other Way of Love resources.
including Lego Advent, Praying in Color Calendar, and more from BuildFaith
Resources
from The Episcopal Church includes customizable video, The Way of Love Advent Curriculum, Christmas cards, Becoming Beloved Community Advent Curriculum, devotionals, sermons, and more.
Join Episcopal Relief & Development each week in Advent to create, learn and pray. There are DIY projects for families and communities (including wreath ideas, prayers and reflections, creche ideas, and information about St. Nicholas) that will take you from Advent to Christmas and through Epiphany. There is also a guide to hosting an alternative gift market and our Gifts for Life Catalog.
Plan a Blue Christmas service : Celebrating Christ Amid the Sadness: Included are hymn suggestions and liturgy outlines.
Preparing to Become Beloved Community Advent Curriculum
Resources from Illustrated Ministry: Includes devotions for families, coloring pages, posters, worship resources, and more!
A collection of Advent Posts from BuildFaith
Praying with Icons for Advent with Rowan Williams
Sanctified Art’s creative resources for worship, prayer, sermon-writing, personal devotions for Advent and Epiphany. Based on the Revised Common Lectionary.
Virtual Christmas Pageant - O, Zoom, All Ye Faithful - imagines a meeting of angels planning the birth of Jesus.
A list of flexible anthems for Advent and Christmas that can be sung well with 1-3 parts
Reawaken Hymns offers hymn videos that can be used in digital or streaming services with no additional licensing needed at a reasonable cost. You can buy a pack or individual hymns.
Recordings of Advent Hymns and Christmas Hymns from the 1982 Hymnal
