Advent is full of a time of traditions – carols, mulled wine, mince pies and many a light-switch on! When tasked with putting together an Advent service at St George’s Egbaston, I wanted to make sure it was truly all-age – I wanted the carols, and the magic of switching on Christmas lights, but I also wanted to invite everyone to spend time in contemplation and reflection at this special time of year in church.
As with any successful endeavour, it was preceded by a lot of support from colleagues and the loving borrowing of other ideas that have worked before. In the spirit of collaboration, feel free to borrow and/or adapt any of the following.
The church was set up into four stations, and as a congregation we moved between these while singing traditional carols. At each station, we read a passage from the Christmas story, reflected in groups on one of the ‘I Wonder’ cards, and collected a special puzzle piece. By the end of the service, the puzzle pieces came together to form an Advent wreath, with five candles labelled ‘love,’ ‘joy,’ ‘peace,’ ‘hope,’ and ‘Jesus’ at the centre.
The service began and ended with two community choirs – one comprising children from our parish school, and the other being our own church choir – it was a lovely way to witness intergenerational worship in action.
We finished by switching on our Christmas decoration lights, censing and blessing the Christmas tree and singing together. It was truly an all-ages service with something for everyone.