Advent & Christmas

Join us during the season of Advent for our Sunday worship services throughout December, leading up to our 6:00PM Lessons and Carols Service on Christmas Eve.

See below for upcoming events and helpful resources about this special season.

Advent

The word “advent” simply means “coming.” The four Sundays before Christmas outline the season of Advent.

In Advent, you will see the altar and clergy in purple to symbolize the season. As Ashley Tumlin Wallace writes, “the liturgical color for Advent is purple or blue. The purple symbolizes Christ’s royalty and our penitence. Blue symbolizes preparation.”

Advent is a time when we remember Christ’s first coming (celebrated on Christmas Day) and when we also prepare for His second coming. During this time, we cry out “Come, Lord Jesus!” as we anticipate and prepare our hearts for His second coming.

The first Sunday of Advent also marks the beginning of the church year as we walk through the story of the life of Jesus from His birth, His life on earth, His death, and His resurrection.

 

Want to learn more about Advent? Check out the resources below:

Upcoming Events

Christmastide

Christmastide starts on Christmas Day (also known as the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord) and continues until the evening before Epiphany (January 5). So while many of us are accustomed to celebrating Christmas throughout much of December until Christmas Day, the 12 days of Christmas actually start on December 25!

A writer for AnglicanCompass.com shares, “As early as 567 A.D., the church began formally setting aside the twelve days from Christmas to Epiphany as both a sacred and festive season with Advent a special time of fasting in preparation of the feast.”

The feast days of Christmastide feature both joyous celebration in the hope of Christ’s birth as well as times of lament, as commemorated in the Feast of the Holy Innocents (referring to King Herod’s order that boys age two and under in Bethlehem be executed).

 

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