This year my wife and I will celebrate our 15th Christmas together. Early in our marriage we became interested in observing Advent in our home, especially once we had children (which we did 11 years ago). Neither of us came from families or churches that celebrated this season and we’ve had to find our own way of “doing” it, but it has been my favorite tradition that our family embraces.
I thank our current church (especially Ms. Sally) for introducing me to the warm, Christ-focused, wonderfully non-commercial aspects of the this tradition. I read that Advent is growing in popularity among evangelical (i.e. not liturgical) churches. I know that many of Nashville’s Southern Baptist churches are observing it and I’m just learning about the Advent Conspiracy.
If you’re curious about using aspects of Advent in your church or home, but need a primer, I recommend an excellent blog post from Presbyterian minister Mark D. Roberts or this article from LifeWay Research. For music suggestions, check out these songs from LifeWayWorship.com.
Do you celebrate Advent? What advice would you give to others who are not very familiar with the tradition? Why do you think it is growing in popularity?
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I received the following email from Ms. Sally hereself:
Jonathan, I just tried to send you a message on Facebook, but I don’t think it worked! I read your last post about Advent and thought you might like to check out Sarah Beth’s Advent Blog at http://somanyforeignroads.blogspot.com/
The blog was her idea for celebrating Advent at college and sharing some of her favorite Advent music and thoughts with friends there. I’m so glad your family is enjoying Advent! Enjoy it now—all too soon they’ve up and grown up and are off to college writing Advent blogs!
Sally
I did grow up in a church that celebrates Advent (United Methodist), but I’ve really grown to understand it and embrace it as an adult—especially as a parent. Our three daughters love lighting the Advent candles each evening after dinner. One lights the candle(s), one reads the devotion, the other says a prayer. Then we all sing O Come O Come Emmanuel. I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of that song, at once mournful and rejoicing.
For me, personally, the concept of waiting and anticipating became very real during Advent 1997, when I was seven/eight months pregnant with my first child. Now I am contemplating the things we wait for (direction, healing, inspiration) that don’t have a clear date we can mark on the calendar and count down to. I guess what I’m realizing is that Advent expands with us, as we grow in faith.