Hopeful Longing
for a New World

by Amy Martin
Conference Worship Coordinator

Reading a particular book recently helped me revisit and feel again the true longing called for by our celebration of Advent. The book, a work of fiction, is Home to Harmony, written by Phillip Gulley, a Quaker minister and author.

In his book, Gulley writes of a family whose mother has run away, leaving her children and husband behind. The father is left to try to teach his children that they are still worth loving and worth having. At night the children cry themselves to sleep and during the day they face the scorn and cruelty of classmates who know of their trouble.

This is the world we know, a world where parents desert their children, where millions go hungry, while others gorge themselves on more than they need, and where nations send their children to kill children of other nations. Fortunately, Advent gives us a season in which to put words, song and expression to our hopeful longing for a new world, a world where God has set up housekeeping, where God will live right with us and never leave. A new world where there will be no more crying, sorrow, pain, or death and where God will wipe every tear from our eyes.

May we put aside the ways of the world we know and let this hope guide us in our Advent celebrations as we prepare to greet the Messiah, our hope fulfilled.

Text Week (great art & movie concordance) www.textweek.com

The Christian Resource Institute
(lots of links to Lectionary, Christian year, etc.)
www.cresourcei.org/nonjavahome.html

Liturgies Online http://www.liturgiesonline.com.au

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Music and Advent

by Rev. Kevin Presley
Minister of Music
Emmanuel United Methodist Church

It is the first Sunday in Advent. You have just sung “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus” during worship, which means that your congregation has now used 50% of all the Advent hymns they know. Following the service comes the question you’ve learned to expect this time of year, “Why didn’t we sing any Christmas songs today?”

Advent is all about waiting and preparing, but it is hard to wait when everyone and everything around you is already in the “Christmas spirit” as of the Friday after Thanksgiving. If you are struggling to introduce a better variety of Advent hymns and songs to the folks in your congregation, here are some ideas that may help.

The best way for a congregation to learn (and grow to like) a new piece of music is through repetition. But, as many church holy days (of course) only happen once a year, the music gets sung or heard once and then often disappears for another twelve months. Advent, however, can be a trend buster, because the four Sundays automatically allow opportunities for repetition.

First, whether you (or your pastor) have a special sermon series in mind or plan to preach from the Common Lectionary, pick an Advent hymn or chorus that you would like your congregation to learn. The Advent section of The United Methodist Hymnal begins at No. 195 and ends at No. 216, but many other hymns are appropriate for the season’s themes. Plan now to introduce your chosen tune to the congregation by having your accompanist play the music as an opening voluntary or offertory. This can be done even before Advent. For another Sunday, you might ask one of your talented singers to sing the song as a solo, or have the choir sing it as an anthem.

Now, the members of your church have already heard the tune twice without you having mentioned a word about them learning “a new song.” Finally, on the third or fourth Sunday in Advent, invite your congregation to stand and sing the new hymn or chorus. The music will already seem familiar, and the congregation that has not much experience in singing new music will not feel as threatened. You might even want to let the congregation sing it again the next week. This process is a great way to introduce a new song not just at Advent, but at any time of year.

The Advent candle lighting ceremony also offers opportunities to add to your repertoire. Select a hymn (or even just its refrain) and have the congregation sing it each Sunday as the candles are lighted. Songs that work well for this include “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (one verse each Sunday, or just the refrain), “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light” (refrain only), “Light the Advent Candle” (from the Faith We Sing songbook), or “Emmanuel, Emmanuel.”

Whether you are struggling to introduce the concept of Advent and its themes of preparation and waiting to your congregation, or even if you just want to expand their musical horizons, there is a wealth of great Advent music in all styles available to you. Any congregation can both learn the music and learn to love it, with sufficient planning and preparation.

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Candles and Colors

by Rev. Andrew LeBlanc
Music Minister
Bartlett United Methodist Church

The four Sundays of Advent invite special attention to the visual environment of the sanctuary. Advent is a penitential season, like Lent. We are called to fast, to pray and to perform good works to prepare ourselves for the great Feast of Christmas, and this attitude is reflected visually in the sanctuary. The liturgical colors of violet, purple or blue symbolize humility and penitence. The Advent Wreath uses the symbolic power of candles within the four weeks of Advent, illustrating that Advent is a time of solemn preparation, and that during this time, we are awaiting the Light of the World and the Dawning of Hope.

While the specific origins of the Advent Wreath are not known, we do know that it began centuries ago in what is now eastern Germany. Originally it was associated with the Yule tradition of burning lights. By the sixteenth century these lights became Advent symbols in Christian homes. From that tradition, the custom developed of lighting a different candle to represent each of the four weeks of Advent and has become a widely used symbol of Advent waiting.

The four candles placed around the wreath represent the four Sundays of Advent, while the fifth candle, placed in the center, represents the arrival of Jesus and is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. In some traditions, three of the candles placed around the Wreath are purple or dark blue and one is rose or pink. The colors of the candles symbolize the twin themes of Advent: preparation and joy. Since preparation is solemn and even penitential, the first, second and fourth candles are usually dark blue or purple. The rose or pink candle, symbolizing the joy of anticipation, is for the third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete (“rejoice”), named after the opening word of the traditional introit, “Rejoicing in the Lord” (Philippians 4:4). The central Christ candle is white, the symbol of festivity.

The New Handbook of the Christian Year (based on the Revised Common Lectionary) indicates that the actual color is not crucial, though they recommend that all four candles be dark blue or purple and be the same size. They do imply that the best suggestion would be for the color of candles to be the same as vestments and paraments for the day.

Each week of Advent has a different emphasis. This emphasis is articulated throughout each week through the designated Scripture readings. Each successive candle represents a step toward the realization of Jesus’ birth:

	First Sunday - symbol of expectation - the light sent from God shines in darkness to show us the way to salvation.
	Second Sunday - symbol of proclamation - the word sent from God through the prophets leads us to the way of salvation.
	Third Sunday - symbol of joy - the joyful promise of God’s presence allows us to rejoice in our hope of salvation.
	Fourth Sunday - symbol of purity - the visitation of God’s Holy Spirit purifies us and we are made ready for the coming of Jesus, our hope and joy.
	Christmas Eve or Christmas Day - symbol of salvation through Christ - a festive celebration.

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Incorporating the Fine Arts:

“Star of Wonder - Star of Light”

The hymn “We Three Kings” is often sung on Epiphany Sunday, the Sunday following closest after January 6. This hymn is sung from the prospective of the three kings who followed the star to find and worship the infant Messiah. In fact, each of the inner three verses represent an individual king and the specific gift that he gave to Jesus.

This rather lengthy hymn can be enlivened by the appearance of a star during the refrain. Create a shiny star to go atop a pole or a dowel that can be carried through the aisles of the church as the refrain is sung. Choose the size of the star according to the size of your worship space, and consider hanging shiny streamers from it as well. This would be a great way to involve children or youth, and several could participate since the refrain is sung five times.

Words for the Table:
Resources for Worship

by the Memphis Conference Worship Design Team

Advent, Christmas & Epiphany
November 2003

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