The First Week of Advent – Beginnings
November 28, 2015
Theme for the week – Beginnings
Prayer for the week
Arouse
your sleeping world,
Advent God,
to greet your dawning presence
with wide-eyed joy.
Dihuna
dy fyd cysglyd,
Dduw’r Adfent,
i gyfarch
gwar dy bresenoldeb
a llawenydd llygad agored.
This prayer by David Jenkins is taken from Seasons of Glory published by Churches Together in Wales ©Cytûn: Churches Together in Wales 1997 with the kind permission of Cytûn.
Topical item on prayer
The Lord’s Prayer – #justpray – here’s the short video rejected by British cinemas. Can you see what the fuss is about? https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vlUXh4mx4gI
Advent Carol for the week
Christ Be Our Light
Children’s Corner
Children’s Craft
My children race downstairs to open their Advent calendar as soon as they get up. Everything is a race with my competitive children! In the evening we light out Advent candle when we eat tea and it brings a rare moment of calm.
I really like the idea of making something which will help to make the season special. I recently saw this, it’s called an “Advent wreath happiness calendar” and is easy for children and adults to make – and enjoy – together.
Advent Wreath Calendar
Here’s what you do with the finished wreath (apart from displaying it proudly): at the end of every day you think about the things that have given you the most happiness – or something kind that you have done, and you write or draw it on a heart-shaped card and peg it to the wreath. This creates a wonderful symmetry of kindness and happiness. It gives you something to look back at when you need to remember those happy moment.
Advent calendar happiness calendar in action
You can find out how to make it here: http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/advent-wreath-happiness-calendar
And if you want to look at other Advent ideas – or craft projects for other times of the year, click here:
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/advent
Disclosure: The idea for the Advent Wreath Calendar is that of www.activityvillage.co.uk
Advent Events
Check out our events page for Advent and Christmas events around the Diocese.
If you would like us to advertise any of your Advent events please send the details in to our vision email address: [email protected].
Advent Resources
If you would like to send in some of your useful Advent, Christmas or Epiphany resources then please email them to our vision email address: [email protected].
‘The Nativity’ DVD – first shown on the BBC in December 2010, written by Eastenders scriptwriter Tony Jordan. You can see part of the show on Youtube by following this link. The full DVD can be purchased on Amazon.
Posada - The idea of travelling crib sets comes from an old Mexican tradition. Posada was the tradition of young people dressed as Mary and Joseph travelling from house to house asking for a room for the night and telling people about the imminent arrival of Jesus in the weeks leading up to Christmas. On Christmas Eve they would visit the local church to re-enact the nativity and place figures of Mary and Joseph in a crib. Modern day Posada uses nativity figures of Mary and Joseph who travel from place to place. this gives each ‘host’ the chance to create their own celebration in their home or place in the community, worshipping and reaching out to their communities with the real message of Christmas, making room for Jesus in their lives.
Messy Church – Advent and Christmas: See a range of ideas (Advent Candles, Messy Nativity, Nativity Sheep Trails, The Gingerbread Nativity – and more) by visiting the Messy Church website.
‘Talk Talk for Christmas and New Year’ is written by Lucy Moore and Jo Cox and produced by The Ugly Duckling Company. Table Talk is a game to get people talking about the big issues in life; the Christmas and New Year version is an all age resource. It costs £25 and is available from http://www.table-talk.org/
A free download is available for iPads/ phones etc – and you can watch a promotional video here https://vimeo.com/user1053431/tabletalkforchristmasadvert
Here’s how to download the game:
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/cg/app/table-talk-for-christmas/id903641900?mt=8
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.theuglyducklingcompany.tabletalkforchristmas&hl=en_GB
Books
Haphazard by Starlight by Janet Morley – an anthology of poetry. http://www.spckpublishing.co.uk/product/haphazard-by-starlight/
Do Nothing… Christmas is Coming: An Advent Calendar with a Difference by Stephen Cottrell
http://www.chpublishing.co.uk/authors/stephen-cottrell
Love Life Live Advent Make Room for the Manger – An all-age resource to help children and families celebrate the run-up to Christmas. Authors: Paula Gooder, Peter Babington http://www.chpublishing.co.uk/books/9780715144411/love-life-live-advent-single-copy
Poems
Advent Calendar – a poem by Rowan Williams: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/dec/24/featuresreviews.guardianreview23
BC:AD by U A Fanthorpe: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/newsreview/theweek/poetscorner/article483884.ece
