Advent Celebration

Shalom!

Gentle Reader and Prompt Planner, I realize I am terribly late for most folks for this Advent, but maybe for another year . . . or this year if you are the sort of procrastinator I am all too much aware of myself . . . .


Pastor David Sprang, Christ the King Lutheran Church, Gladwin, Michigan, suggests a way to mark the Sundays of Advent on e-talk, an email listserve administered through Wood Lake Books. (To subscribe, e-mail: e-talk-subscribe@joinhands.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: e-talk-unsubscribe@joinhands.com )

“I will wrap a box and put it somewhere up front for the kids to find. Inside the box will be something to express the theme for the day.
Advent I - Hope- I will fill the box with blue stuff which might symbolize hope
Advent II - Generosity - I will fill the box with food that goes to the local food pantry and talk about Jesus "filling the hungry with good things"
Advent III - Anticipation - The box will be filled with Mary and Joseph from the nativity crèche and we will talk about not being able to wait
Advent IV - Patience - (I am still working on this one) Either I will place another wrapped box inside the box, or a branch and talk about the gifts of God that come to us every day or the gifts that we will not see till the end of time.”

Building on David’s idea, Thom M. Shuman, Greenhills Community Church, Presbyterian, Cincinnati, Ohio, writes:

“I will begin Advent 1 with an empty box - to symbolize both the hopes the kids have about what they will find on Christmas morning - but also to symbolize God's heart, where we can place all our hopes - even those we don't want anyone else to know about.

Advent II - Generosity - Same as you are doing

Advent III - Anticipation - I will use Joseph and Mary as well, but will talk about the anticipation they had of finding a place to stay with and how they dealt with that anticipation not coming true (and remind the kids they may not get everything they anticipate for Christmas.

Advent IV - Patience - That's a tough one, isn't it? 2 days before Christmas and patience has flown out the window. I might go with the empty box again, just to talk about the fact that Advent is all about being patient enough to let God surprise us with a gift we didn't expect.

Then, on Christmas Eve, I will put the bread and the cup in the box, to symbolize the full meaning of Christ's birth."

Personally, I really like this sort of idea. I always struggled with the Advent wreath--creating it, finding folks to light it, preparing or finding fitting words for it, moving around it during worship, etc. This kind of idea could start the service off, or come in at the children's time, and really get the attention of everyone.

Shalom!
dave

Excuse me?

Shalom!

Here's a thought:

http://rev.org/article.asp?ID=2815

Many of us either don't think we would ever have such a problem, I suppose, or we would be unwilling to invite folks to try another church. But of course, this makes sense.

IF THE VISION IS CLEAR and if it is good, then putting it into real practice will go better with persons who agree with it. Those who don't might mutter or may even go along, but do they put out the necessary energy and enthusiasm for a vision they don't support?

Maybe this could be part of the new ecumenism, in which we all work to get persons "on board" in ways that fit their particular situation. I'm NOT suggesting here that we stifle or eliminate opposition or avoid conflict or "purify" the group. I am suggesting a marshalling of our resources in an effective way. The whole Christian church needs more than any one congregation can provide.

Shalom!
dave

Rethinking church efforts

Shalom!

In the Jim Wallis (Sojourners) blog

http://blog.beliefnet.com/godspolitics/2007/10/willow-creek-repents-by-diana.html

Diana Butler Bass (The Practicing Congregation, 2004) writes of what the Willow Creek staff is saying about program and discipleship disciplines. In part, she quotes Bill Hybels:

"We made a mistake," says Hybels: "What we should have done when people crossed the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people that they have to take responsibility to become 'self-feeders.' We should have gotten people, taught people, how to read their bible between service, how to do the spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own."

Notice what Hybels says is missing: intentionality, practice, and vitality. Or, as the Leadership blog put it, "Spiritual growth doesn't happen best by becoming dependent on elaborate church programs but through the age old spiritual practices of prayer, bible reading, and relationships. These basic disciplines do not require multi-million dollar facilities and hundreds of staff to manage."

This would seem to offer all sorts of sunbeams (rays of hope) for less-than-mega-churches! Perhaps it helps explain how small and medium congregations hang on. Of course, ALL congregations need to be intentional about providing help with the spiritual practices, but if we focus on that instead of worrying about size and viability (funding), then we'll all be the better for it!

Shalom!
dave

General Conference preparations

Shalom!

For United Methodists, here is a site from which you may learn more about the proposal to change the organizational structure of the UMC. It would allow the Church to form the United States into a central, or regional, conference.

http://www.worldwideumc.org/

Shalom!
dave